The Fight
by Adina Mizu
Summary: Karkat and John have a fight and now Karkat has to figure out what to do now.
1. The Fight

Characters of Andrew Hussie.

I got into sadstuck for a bit and this happened...

"Fuck, John. Pick up!" Karkat hissed into his phone as it rang endlessly.

The troll continued down the sidewalk as he waited impatiently for the other to answer his cell. Moments later his call was sent to voicemail and he hung up and re-dialed. He had called John many times in succession already and was seeming no closer to talking to his Matesprite than he was earlier when he tried Trollian. The last time he had seen John the boy was crying as he flew off into the night sky a few hours ago. At first Karkat had been too angry to do anything but pace around his hive, but when John didn't come back after an hour he started to worry. He sent messages to the boys' Pesterchum account and any other site he could think of that the other used. When he got no reply he grabbed his phone and left, called John continuously hoping for the boy to answer.

Karkat knew it had been his fault, things like this usually were. John had just been caught in the crossfire and Karkat was kicking himself for that. Because of him his Matesprite was out at this ungoggly hour most likely sobbing alone in the dark somewhere as if Nick Cage had died. As angry as Karkat felt running around in the dark in some random direction looking for John he was far angrier at himself for the whole mess.

"Egbert you fuckass, answer your fucking phone!" He growled as he was sent to voicemail again.

- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

EB: hey dave

TG: hey bro

TG: sup

EB: are you busy right now?

TG: not really

TG: why

TG: something wrong?

TG: egbert you still there?

EB: yea

TG: whats wrong man

EB: i need to talk to you

EB: can i come in?

TG: you outside bro?

TG: yea you can come in

EB: thanks

- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

John pocketed his PDA and stood up from where he had been sitting outside his friend's door and waited for Dave to come down and let him in. He rubbed at his eyes to wipe away any lingering tears and tried to put on a strong face. He didn't want his best bro to think he was a wimp or a crybaby. Dave was at the door in moments, pulling it wide open. Upon seeing John's red puffy eyes Dave's normal straight face grew both surprised and concerned. John forced a smile as best he could and waved sheepishly.

"Hi, Dave." He greeted weakly.

"John, what's wrong dude?" Dave asked stepping aside to let the other boy enter.

"It's, uh, well it's..." John hesitated as he slunk into Dave's house, the door being closed behind him.

Dave waited for John to finish and after taking a deep breath he did.

"It's Karkat." He said finally.

"I figured as much, bro." Dave replied, "You want something to drink?"

"Uh, water I guess." John said as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

Dave led the way into the kitchen and went about the task of getting his friend a drink, along with a few snacks tossed on the counter just in case. John didn't touch them and only sipped at the water. He kept his eyes down as Dave pulled up a seat opposite him at the counter.

"So what happened?" Dave prompted when John remained silent.

"We had a fight." John replied simply.

"Obviously." Dave countered, sighing when John's sad expression deepened.

They sat for another minute before John spoke up.

"I don't think he likes me anymore." He said quietly.

"Why?" Dave asked, his blank expression hiding his surprise well.

"Because I'm annoying and I get in the way a lot." John replied, his voice staying near a whisper.

"Egbert-" Dave started but was cut off as John continued to speak.

"I know I talk a lot about Nick Cage, and I ask a lot of stupid questions, and I know I don't understand a lot of things-" John's hands were shaking against the glass of water as he spoke and tears started forming in his eyes, "-But I can't help it. I want to understand, I do. I just have trouble getting the facts straight sometimes." By now his voice was shaking and tears were rolling down his cheeks, "I know I talk more than I should, but I can't help it. And now- Now Karkat hates me-" John broke off altogether and sobbed, burying his head in his hands.

Dave swiveled quickly from his seat and rounded the counter, embracing his distraught friend. John turned into the hug and buried his face into Dave's chest as the other shooshed him and pat his back. The feeling of John's warm tears seeping through his shirt tugged at Dave's heart and he gave his friend a squeeze. He had never seen John cry like this before and it seriously bothered him. John was the happy one, the master prankster; seeing him cry was in a single word, unnerving. It made him angry too, really angry. What, in the fuck, was Karkat thinking making his best bro cry like this? Well, this shit was not gunna fly. Not with Dave fucking Strider.

"D-Dave?" John started in a strained and slightly muffled tone, "Can I -hic- stay here t-tonight?"

"Of course, bro." Dave replied patting his back.

After John had calmed down a bit Dave set them up in front of the T.V. with a bunch of snacks and put on one of his kickass movies that he knew John would like. They talked about bullshit, though to be honest it was Dave who did most of the talking this time around. John participated a bit but for the most time he just sat and watched the screen blankly.

"You feelin' okay, bro?" Dave asked after a while.

"Huh? Yea, I'm fine." John replied.

"You are a shitty liar, Egbert." Dave said, giving his friend a bland look.

"I'm fine, really. I just-" John jumped as his phone went off in his pocket, checking the ID he frowned a bit, "Its Karkat."

"Don't answer it." Dave instructed with an ever so slight scowl on his face.

"But, what if he wants to apologize?" John said, his face showing the hope that laced his voice.

"Dude, he's an ass. Let him stew in it." Dave replied.

"But-"

"No." Dave swiped the phone from his friends hand and tossed it behind him, "No talking to him. You are going to sit here and enjoy this awesome movie."

"But Dave!" John whined.

"No, dude, trust me. Just let it go." Dave said with raised hands as John had moved to retrieve his phone, "Just chill out and watch the movie. You can call him later right?"

John thought about this for a moment before settling back down. Dave was his best bro and was looking out for him. If he shouldn't talk to Karkat right away about it Dave would know. Taking a deep breath John tried to focus on the movie and not his phone which was ringing like crazy from across the room.

- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

TG: hey douche lord

CG: I'M A LITTLE BUSY RIGHT NOW

TG: how about shut up for a minute

TG: i want you to tell me what exactly you said to egbert

CG: IS HE WITH YOU?

CG: IS HE ALRIGHT?

TG: tell me what you said to him

CG: LET ME TALK TO HIM

TG: No

CG: DAMNIT DAVE, JUST LET ME FUCKING TALK TO HIM!

TG: tell me what you said to him

CG: ITS NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUISNESS

CG: NOW LET ME FUCKING TALK TO HIM!

TG: not gunna happen anytime soon

TG: dont call him anymore either hes not going to answer and the constant ringing is fucking irritating

CG: DAVE, YOU INSUFFERABLE EGOTISTICAL NOOKSUCKING PRICK, PUT JOHN ON THE FUCKING PHONE SO I CAN TALK TO HIM!

**TG**** blocked ****CG**

- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

"Fuckass prick." Karkat hissed vehemently at his phone before trying Trollian again.

- carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling ectoBiologist [EB]

CG: JOHN

CG: COME ON, PLEASE ANSWER!

EB: what did i tell you about talking to him asswipe

EB **blocked **CG

CG: DAVE YOU FUCKASS!

-carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling ectoBiologist [EB]

"FUCKING FUCK!" Karkat yelled tossing his phone across the sidewalk and having a rage tantrum, cursing Dave and all he stood for.

After he calmed down a bit he retrieved his phone and started off in the direction he roughly knew Dave's to be in. He was a long ways off from there and that was the extent on his knowledge on the matter, but he had no choice. If he was going to talk to John at all at this point it would have to be face to face. There seemed to be no way Dave was going to let him talk to John, nor vice versa it seemed. Why, of all the people John could have fled to, did he choose Dave? Why not Tavros? At least the Taurus would've allowed them contact so they could've worked it out already.

Flipping open his phone again Karkat skimmed the list of names for people who could possibly know how to get to Dave's place. Someone had to know his address; he just hoped no one would ask why he needed it.

It was late when John showed signs of fatigue and so started the process of going to bed. Dave set up a spot for him to sleep on his bedroom floor after haphazardly clearing a space for him and lent him some clothes to sleep in. While John got changed Dave went about his own process of locking up his house. It's not that he was worried about anyone breaking in or anything, it was just something Bro had always instructed him to do at night. It was at this time that a sharp knocking came from his front door, which struck him as extremely odd. He knew the knock of basically everyone who bothered to visit him and of the people on that list none of them would be at his door this late at night.

Dave made his way back to the door he had just checked and looked through the peephole. His eyes widened when he got a look at who it was and cursed under his breath. How the hell did that bastard get to his house? Looking towards the hall that lead to the bedroom Dave tried to gauge how much time he could spare before John would think to come looking for him. Figuring he had enough he undid the latch and slipped out the door, Karkat stepped back a few steps as the blond did so.

"Dave, I just-" Karkat was interrupted abruptly by a Flaming Rage Strider Punch to the face.

Landing firmly on his ass Karkat rubbed his cheek and looked at the other boy with both shock and apprehension. Dave stood tall looking down at the troll, has shades hiding his seething eyes as the rest of his face remained mostly unreadable.

"The hell do you think you're doing here?" Dave asked, glaring through his shades.

"I need to talk to John." Karkat replied remaining on the ground.

"To tell him how annoying he is some more?" Dave asked sharply.

"I never said that-"

"But you implied as much." Dave cut in.

"I didn't mean it like that. Hell, I didn't mean it at all!" Karkat growled.

"I don't give a flying monkey's fuck what you did or didn't mean. He seriously cares for you and you made him cry!" Dave spat, "You're an ass and don't deserve Egbert in the first place."

"I know." Karkat hissed, which made Dave stop, "I know alright? I'm an ass. I was pissed off and I made a mistake. I vented on John and I know I shouldn't have, but I did."

Karkat sat glaring at his feet as he said this, making no attempt to get up. Dave was caught off guard by this. Karkat was usually loud, angry and speaking the infinite praises about himself; this right here, was not the normal Karkat. This Karkat, although still angry, seemed more sorrowful, even ashamed. After a few moments passed Dave let out a sigh and crossed his arms.

"So, what happened exactly?" Dave asked.

Karkat growled and ran a clawed hand through his hair. He did _not_ want to tell Dave anything; unfortunately Dave was the wall that stood between him and John at the moment. If he didn't say anything Dave could and most likely would keep the Heir of Breathe out of his reach and securely tucked in the relative safety of his home. Taking a deep breath Karkat continued to glare at his feet as he spoke.

"It was fucking Vriska mostly. She's been all over me since John and I became Matesprites." He started to explain, "I ignored her and have been ignoring her from the beginning." Karkat sighed heavily, "But it's not as simple as just ignoring _her_. She went and blabbed about it to everyone else as soon as she could, which I didn't really care about at the time. But now I've got Equius and even Eridan bitching about it-"

"I thought going with guys wasn't an issue with trolls." Dave interjected.

"It's not, but dating someone of a different species altogether? Not exactly smiled upon." Karkat growled.

"And you didn't bring any of this up to Egbert?" Dave asked.

"No, why would I? He'd probably try to talk to them and then they'd be on _his_ case about it. As far as they're concerned at this point it's just _me_ going after _him_ with _him_ not knowing any better." He said rubbing his temple in exasperation.

"Well, whatever you said to him earlier has got him convinced that you hate him now." Dave informed.

"Fuck." Karkat cursed, "I don't even remember half the things I said."

Karkat scratched his head with his claws and growled under his breath. Looking at him now Dave kind of felt a pity for the troll. He had been dealing with the bigotry and prejudice of the worst of the trolls, kept it all from John and even somehow found his way here to his house in order to apologize for a fight. He had to give the troll props; he maybe wasn't as big an ass as he had first thought. Hell, John had fallen for him somehow right? So there must have been something good under all that bitching and moaning.

"What are you going to do now then?" Dave asked.

"Fuck, I don't know." Karkat replied with a sigh.

"You still love him?" Dave asked, getting the troll look at him fully before looking away quickly.

"Of course." He replied, a tint of blush on his cheeks.

"Well you should make sure he knows that, don't you think?" Dave said, "Thing about John is he tends to over think these things. If you don't keep reminding him that you love him he'll start to get bent out of shape about it. Thinkin' you don't care about him anymore or some stupid shit like that."

Karkat didn't reply and they both remained silent for a moment. Getting dating advise from Dave was highly unusual and somewhat unsettling for the troll. Although as much as he hated the blond the kid did know John pretty fucking well and the advise did seem sound enough, not that he'd ever admit that.

"You'll keep him here for a while?" Karkat asked suddenly.

"Uh, Yea. Why?" Dave questioned, his brow knit with confusion.

"I think it may be best if we did spend some time apart." Karkat replied getting to his feet.

"You just gunna leave him here?" Dave asked.

"Yea. Don't even tell him I was here." Karkat replied as he turned to leave.

"Okay, now I'm lost. I thought you came to apologize and make up and all that."

"Let's think about this for a minute. If I were to apologize and take him back with me it wouldn't help matters any right now." Karkat explained, "It might be better if we stayed apart for a bit."

"What changed your mind all the sudden?" Dave asked as the troll made his retreat.

Karkat just shook his head and kept walking. Even if he had taken John back home with him it wouldn't make anything better. Vriska and the other two would still be on his case about it. He needed some time to figure out a way to deal with them. He needed time to think and he couldn't do that with John around. He would be distracted by the boy, or worse, he might yell at him again; in frustration and maybe even in time, resentment. That's what Vriska had said, and damn it if he believed anything she said. But there was still a chance, and he didn't want to take that chance.

Dave sighed and went back inside. Closing and locking the door behind him he was surprised to turn around and find John sitting quietly on the couch facing the blank television.

"So, uh, you heard some of that?" Dave asked hesitantly.

John nodded, but said nothing. Dave made his way over to the couch and was surprised to see a smile on John's face, a small happy smile. Dave placed a concerned hand on his shoulder.

"I heard him say he still loves me." John said after a moment, looking over at Dave, "Knowing that, I can wait. However long he needs, I'll wait."


	2. Tears

Characters of Andrew Hussie

Second chapter! What happens now? Where is it going? I'll let you read now.

It had been three days now since John had fled to Dave's after he and Karkat had fought. The troll had made himself scarce, not sending so much as a message on Trollian let alone calling. John had been good the first two days as he wanted to give the troll his necessary space to work things out. But he was starting to worry now. Even during the times when the two weren't able to talk much they at least managed to send a quick note to one other, even if it was something simple. It was more than nothing and that's all that mattered. John wanted to send a note himself and almost did a few times, but decided against it at the last minute. He didn't want to get in Karkat's way after all.

The boy flipped his phone open for the hundredth time for that day, checking for any messages that might have been sent in that last couple of minutes. He was slumped on Dave's couch as he had been staying with him the whole time. He didn't want to go back to his own house because he knew it would be empty. He really hated being alone.

"Dude, put the phone away already. If you get a message it'll let you know." Dave said nudging his best bro with his foot from the other side of the couch.

Today was being spent as the last few had been. Sitting in front of the TV watching movies and later, most likely, they would fool around with Dave's sick stylin' new turntables. Or rather, Dave would play something and John would watch him so as not to accidentally ruin the mad beats that flowed from the speakers. It was fun the first day or so, but now it just seemed more and more like a distraction, which it was. Video games didn't work nearly as well as Dave had hoped and they had nearly exhausted the movie selection Dave had on hand. Not even drawing funny and ironic comics worked. It was getting harder to distract the boy as time went on and he, Dave Strider, was running out of ideas.

John snapped his phone shut with a sigh, a frown set on his lips. His eyes looked right through the TV and slowly trailed up above it, resting on one of the posters on the wall. It was a stupid Muppets poster with smuppet features that gave the childhood characters a grotesque and violated look. Dave didn't say anything as he watched John zone out. He was pretty sure he knew what John was thinking about and he didn't have any advice to give than what he had already told him.

"Why hasn't he at least sent a message?" John asked finally, still looking straight ahead.

Dave didn't have response for this question and when the silence stretched on John turned to look at him. His normally bright blue eyes were cloudy with confusion and a just noticeable trace of hurt.

"He hasn't called or anything." John continued, clearly looking for some kind of response.

"It's only been three days, dude. And he's dealing with Vriska." Dave said, "No telling what kind of shit storm is going down over there."

John sighed and looked at his phone, fingers twitching.

"Dude, don't make me confiscate that thing again." Dave warned.

John hastily placed the phone in his pocket and tried to focus on the images dancing on the screen. Dave watched his friend for a few more minutes before also returning his attention to the movie.

Karkat lay sprawled on his own couch nursing the fresh bruises that decked his cheek and most of his torso. He had been up all night fighting with Vriska who seemed in a rather playful mood as she often made a point to make him hit himself whenever he managed to successfully insult her or make a proper point. The worst of it came about for a comment he hadn't even meant to be offensive. He had offhandedly insulted Nick Cage and she, for whatever reason took that as an act of severe war play and proceeded to have Karkat toss himself down the stairs, twice if he remembered correctly. He was thankful he didn't live near any cliffs at this point.

Over the last few days he had managed to get at least Eridan off his back and by some stroke of luck even had Equius letting up at least a little. Vriska, however, was not running out of steam anytime soon it seemed. He winced as he sat up in order to grab his phone from the heated beverage table. Flipping it open he checked for any new messages, of which there was none. Not even a smiley from John or anything. The boy usually made a point to send something after any given amount of time that they were unable to see each other. He had grown accustom to seeing the small notes by now, he even so much as looked forward to seeing what he had been sent each time.

With a frown Karkat opened Trollian and tried to send a message himself for the fourth time that day. He cursed under his breath when the blocked notification popped up again. Dave had yet to remove the block from John's phone and with the app he had given John he couldn't just worm his way around it. Karkat had set up a master block app in order to keep Vriska from talking to John from any given moment, something he was now regretting as he could no longer by pass the block either. Sighing heavily he started to dial John's number to tell him to remove the block and, of course, to talk with his Matesprite whom he hadn't seen since the fight.

He was halfway through dialing when a Trollian icon popped up informing him Vriska was back. He growled and planned on ignoring her until he had at least talked to John. But just before he hit send Karkat decided it best to deal with her now so as not to draw John into this anymore than he was.

- arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]

AG: well karkat, what have we learned a8out inapropri8 conduct with humans?

AG: those tum8les down the stairs didn't knock it from your head did they?

AG: ::::)

CG: FUCK YOU

CG: THAT WAS PLAYING DIRTY AND YOU KNOW IT

CG: IT DIDNT EVEN HELP YOUR POORLY ARGUED POINT IN THE LEAST

CG: ALL IT DID WAS SHOW HOW FUCKING PATHETIC YOU ARE IN ANY FORM OF DEBATE

CG: FUCK!

CG: STOP FUCKING DOING THAT YOU CHEATING FUCKASS BITCH!

AG: ::::)

AG: aw what's wrong?

AG: you didn't lose a tooth this time did you?

CG: FUCK YOU

CG: WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT THIS TIME?

CG: ISN'T IT A BIT EARLY FOR THIS?

AG: it's never too early for this

AG: I am keeping the 8iological lines of troll's and humans from crossing

AG: as any decent minded troll would.

CG: WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE?

CG: ITS NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUISNESS!

CG: IF YOU BELIEVED IN AN OUNCE OF ANY OF THIS BULLSHIT YOU WOULD BE THROWING OFF THAT SICKENING INFATUATION WITH NICK CAGE LIKE A MAD HORNED HOOFBEAST AND ITS RIDER.

CG: FUCKING STOP DOING THAT!

AG: you know I am doing this for your own good karkat

AG: after all, what would happen to you once the drone came around?

AG: hmmmmmmmm?

AG: what would you do then?

AG: offer up the humans genes along with your own?

CG: I ALREADY WENT THROUGH THIS WITH EQUIUS

CG: NO I WOULD NOT

CG: IM NOT THAT FUCKING STUPID

AG: if you dont have anything to offer you are going to die karkat

AG: diiiiiiiie!

AG: so you see, I am merely 8eing a concerned friend

CG: DONT EVER USE THAT FUCKING WORD AGAIN

CG: I SWEAR I WILL PUKE MY INNARDS RIGHT OUT IN ONE GARGANTUAN HEAVE OF SHEAR DISGUST

AG: ::::)

CG: NOW TELL ME WHAT YOU'RE REALLY AFTER WITH ALL THIS

AG: nothing

AG: why would I have ulterior motives Karkat?

CG: DO I REALLY NEED TO CITE REASONS?

CG: BECAUSE I'M SURE WE BOTH DONT HAVE THE TIME TO NAME OR READ THROUGH THEM ALL

AG: you are going to h8 him over time Karkat

AG: once you two have to go on the run from the drone

AG: you are going to h8 running for your life 8ecause of one stupid human

AG: just w8

AG: you'll see

- arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]

This was one of the shorter conversations thus far with her and yet she managed to piss Karkat right the fuck off. He rubbed the new bruises that were starting to show up over the others and fumed over her ridiculous antics. The best point she was able to make out of this whole thing was with the drone. Karkat had assured John that everything would be fine before, but there was always that. The drone would be an issue and he had no idea how to handle it. He couldn't pass on human genetics to the grub queen that was for sure, but not giving anything would be suicide; literally.

Karkat tossed his phone in frustration and lay back down on the couch. He hurt pretty badly, physically and now mentally. His thinkpan was swimming in pain and anger at Vriska and her accusations, but mostly for bringing up one of the very points he himself had thought on more than once. If the drone did come around and he had nothing to give he would be in serious trouble. Not only that, but it may even put John in danger as well. He wasn't exactly sure how the drone would sum up the situation, but he was sure it wouldn't be good.

Karkat winced after a particularly painful throb from his achy body, pulling his thoughts back to his current condition. He hadn't broken anything, though it wasn't from Vriska's lack of trying. His body was multi-colored from head to toe and his nose had dried blood on it from when it had been gushing earlier. He hadn't lost any teeth though at one point he thought he felt one chip a little. All in all he was a wreck and in serious need of some sleep. Peeling himself from the relative comfort of the couch Karkat dragged his battered body up the stairs and to his respite block. A good long sleep in the slime would do him wonders, or at least fix his body up a bit.

Slipping into the recuperacoon Karkat was hardly settled before he felt his eyelids droop with fatigue. Within minutes he was fast asleep, sleep that he very much needed. However, he had forgotten something; something important. He had forgotten to call John.

John waited impatiently for his phone to ring or beep with any kind of message from Karkat. He had tried calling the troll but he had never picked up, which made John worry quite a bit. Even Dave was slightly concerned. After John had ceased trying to call Dave had excused himself in order to try and contact the troll himself. He too was met with failure at this. He wasn't sure if this was something to be angry at Karkat about or worried really, so in the end he decided on both. He watched John as he watched his phone sitting on the coffee table. Ever since night had fallen John had become scarily obsessed with just waiting for a call. After Dave had made the comment about dealing with Vriska John had become very much anxious to hear from his Matesprite. After all, Vriska had been the one to cripple Tavros; she could easily do the same to Karkat.

John had already contacted Tavros and Gamzee hoping they might have spoken to him within the last few days. Unfortunately, they had not. Gamzee had offered to go check on him, but that only made John feel guilty for not checking himself and so he declined. Dave also had sought the aid of other trolls in the matter, asking Sollux and Terezi if they had seen or heard from their angry friend. They had no more answers then the first two trolls had.

Dave sat at his kitchen counter trying to think of what to do now. Karkat had a limited circle of people that he talked to often enough to know what he might be up to. He thought of maybe trying Eridan or Equius as Karkat had mentioned them specifically as part of the problem, but he decided against it for three reasons. One, he really didn't want to talk to either of them. Two, he didn't want to risk any of Karkat's efforts with them as it would only hurt John in the long run, and Three, he really didn't want to talk to either of them. Dave let out a heavy sigh and rested his head on his folded hands as he thought. He was interrupted from this though as John let out a sob from the couch, tossing his phone to the floor. Dave swiftly entered the living room and knelt by his side.

"Dude, what's wrong?" He asked quickly and with his concern showing clearly on his face.

John wept into his hands and hadn't the breath to reply. His body shook from the force of his sobs as he curled up into a ball on the couch. Dave moved to the seat beside him and pulled the other boy so that he was leaning against his chest. He knew John had been upset by Karkat's silence but he didn't think it could make him breakdown like this.

Dave shooshed, papped and rocked his friend as he cried hard into his knees. It took a bit of time, but eventually John's crying subsided and having exhausted himself with his tears he fell asleep. Dave, once he was sure his friend was fully asleep, moved him so that he was lying on the couch comfortably. Once that was done he went and retrieved the phone that John had tossed and flipped it open. There was a message box still open with a name he didn't recognize, though he knew who it was in an instant.

anotherGriper.

AG.

The message was simple and designed to hurt.

AG: you're wasting your time, he's already left you.

Dave scowled at the phone and closed the box after blocking the name. With what was going on right now John didn't need to deal with this. There was one sort of good thing that came from that message though. It made it clear that Karkat's silence was most likely Vriska's fault. But it made Dave worry now too. After all, Karkat's silence was most likely Vriska's fault; she was capable of doing a lot of damage.

Karkat was pulled from his peaceful sleep by a heavy knocking at his door. With a groan he pulled himself out of the recuperacoon and didn't bother to clean up as he groggily made his way to the front door. The pounding became louder until it echoed in his still fatigued thinkpan. He opened the door with a deep scowl and glared at whoever had the nerve to wake him. His eyes widened with shock when he registered exactly who it was.

It was a drone.

A drone stood at his door with a bucket in hand.

It looked expectantly at Karkat, its eyes piercing with a dark and evil chill. When Karkat failed to move it stepped forward and sniffed Karkat, inspecting him, summing him up. When it backed away again it motioned to the pail it carried. Again Karkat made no move, or rather, he couldn't move. He was petrified by the appearance of this genetic courier, this sinister being. The drone growled and seeing that the pail was going to remain unfilled it snarled darkly and moved forward once more. Karkat's feet seemed to suddenly become unstuck as he peeled backwards and made to escape. The drone was far faster and latched onto the back of Karkat's neck. With a swift motion Karkat felt long, icy claws tear though his back.

Karkat bolted up out of the slime screaming in pain and fear that had welled up in his chest. Even in the slime he had managed to have a nightmare and a big one too. He panted heavily and grasped his shirt just over his chest. He could feel his heart beating erratically and far faster than it should. Feeling he would not be able to sleep any longer now Karkat lifted himself out of his recuperacoon and cleaned himself up from the slime. Heading down stairs Karkat became aware of his cell beeping in that familiar way so as to inform him of a message. He made his way over to the far side of the room and picked it up, flipping it open. Familiar purple text greeted his eyes with the irritating rotating caps.

- terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]

TC: HeY mOtHeRfUcKeR

TC: yOu GuNnA lEt A bRoThEr In?

CG: WHAT?

TC: BeEn KnOcKiN fOr A wHiLe BrO

CG: FUCK

CG: HOLD ON A SECOND

- terminallyCapricious [TC] ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]

A moment later Karkat was pulling his door open in order to allow his moirail entrance into his hive. It was dark out and just a bit chilly. Gamzee didn't seem to notice as he wore a short sleeve shirt and no jacket. He smiled wide at Karkat as he entered the hive.

"Hey best friend, how the motherfuck have you been?" He asked rather cheerfully in his usual lax tone.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Gamzee?" Karkat questioned straight out, too tired to want to deal with the juggalo at present.

"People be worried 'bout you, bro." He replied strolling into the living room, "Just wondering where you are all at and shit."

"I've been here the whole time." Karkat said following the other troll, "Why?"

"No one's been able to get a hold of you motherfucker. Makin' people nervous and shit." Gamzee replied as he slumped onto the couch.

"Whatever." Karkat sighed easing into the seat on the other end of the couch.

"So what the motherfuck has been goin' down over here?" Gamzee asked, "You all looking somethin' motherfucking terrible, bro."

Karkat sighed and rubbed his temple.

"Fucking Vriska and her fucking mind games." He said after a moment.

"Vriska? What's she doin' this time?" Gamzee asked looking at Karkat with mild surprise.

Karkat growled under his breath before launching into the story about the harassment, the fight and the arguments that have been taking place over the last few days. The whole time Gamzee sat and listened rather intently, which was odd given his normally short attention span. Once he was done Karkat leaned back into the couch with a heavy sigh.

"Damn brother, that is some motherfuckin' heavy shit." Gamzee said with a frown.

"I'm starting to think..."Karkat hesitated, "That maybe it'd be better if John and I...stopped being matesprites."

"Whoa!" Gamzee's eyed went wide, "What in the motherfuck are you talkin' about, bro? You two are motherfucking perfect for each other. You can't let this come up and all motherfuckin' between you."

"I'm just thinking-"

"You still motherfucking flushed for him?" Gamzee asked.

"Well, yea but-"

"Then you should stay matesprites, bro." Gamzee said firmly, "You know you love that motherfucker and you know that motherfucker loves you. And I say that's all any motherfucker needs."

Karkat didn't reply, but sat and thought about what he had said. Fuck yea he still loved John and it was painfully obvious the boy felt the same way. But it wasn't as simple as Gamzee put it, not when there was still a drone to worry about in the future. That among other things, so many things. He wasn't so sure he and John would be able to make it very far together anymore.


	3. Losing you

A third chapter? No fuckin' way! When, oh when will things be resolved?

It was the fourth day of Karkat and John's separation and Karkat was laying in his recuperacoon staring blankly up at the ceiling. After talking with Gamzee he had spent all night thinking about John and himself. He had not been able to find sleep as he had predicted, nor was he able to get a clear answer for any of the problems that had been presented to him over the course of time. Gamzee had promised to inform John that Karkat was indeed intact and to remind the boy that Karkat was on his block list. Of course the troll rather doubted his moirail would remember that bit.

With a heavy sigh Karkat pulled himself out of his recuperacoon and went about cleaning himself up for the day. Though he didn't sleep the slime had taken care of his injuries to an extent, only a few bruises remained. Despite this Karkat worked slowly as he washed and dressed, as if to impede the start of the day. He made his way downstairs and took a deep breath. He knew not to expect anything, but it had become a habit really. John had made it one by cooking breakfast whenever he spent the night. It wasn't great food and more often than not it would be slightly burnt, but the smell would be there. Even with the slight burn it smelt nice, 'like a home' according to John.

But John was not here now and there was no smell or promise of cooked food. The air was empty and cold. He didn't like the feeling, the emptiness his hive had when John wasn't there. He would give anything to just call John and have him windy his way back to where he belonged, back to him. He didn't think being alone would feel so bad considering he'd been alone before now. It wasn't really all that new, so why did it feel so different? It had only been four days; they had been apart for more than that before. But he knew why, deep down he knew.

Shaking his head Karkat walked over to where his phone was charging and flipped it open checking for messages from John. There weren't any yet which made him wonder if Gamzee had forgotten to mention it after all. He stared at the empty message box and growled under his breath. He really didn't like where this day was going.

When John woke it was nearing ten o'clock. Sitting up he rubbed his eyes and looked around. He was in Dave's room, in Dave's bed even, but the other boy was nowhere to be found. Slipping from under the sheets John got up and made his way down the hall towards the main rooms of the house. When he entered the living room Dave was slumped on the couch fiddling with something he couldn't see.

"Hey, Dave." John greeted as he proceeded towards his best bro.

Dave jolted slightly upon hearing the others voice and tried to slip the cell phone he'd been messing with back on the table before he noticed.

"Yo, Egbert. You feelin' alright?" He asked as casually as any cool kid could.

"Fine, I guess. Did you sleep out here?" John asked as he spotted the blanket draped haphazardly over the end of the couch.

"For a bit." Dave admitted nonchalantly, "I don't really care for sleeping on floors."

"Sorry for taking your bed." John said bringing his hand behind his head.

"Don't sweat it." Dave replied with a shrug, "It's cool."

"Um, Dave?" John asked as he sat beside the blond.

"Yea?"

"How did I get in your bed?" John asked as he had no memory of getting there himself.

"You just up and floated there, bro. Like 'Little Nemo'." Dave replied with his wise guy smirk.

John raised his eye brows at him and gave a crooked sort of smirk.

"I carried you." Dave answered; tilting his head to peek over his shades he smiled teasingly, "You know you're pretty light weight for a guy."

John blushed at that which encouraged Dave to elaborate.

"Yea, you're kind of petite you know. Delicate even." Dave went on, watching John's face burn with embarrassment, "I can see why Karkat wanted you so badly for so long."

"D-Dave!" John squeaked, hands rushing to his face to try and cover the crimson he felt there.

"I bet he was just itchin' to grab hold of though birthin' hips of yours." Dave continued, leaning forward a bit as he said this.

"My what?" John's voice cracked; his face very hot by now as Dave teased him mercilessly.

"Your birthin' hips. You know, baby birthin'." Dave explained and watched as John's blush reached its most impressive shade yet, "Or maybe you prefer to call them your 'love handles'."

The noise that burst from John's mouth was one of mortification and distress. His mouth opened and closed but no intelligible words were spoken, just more flustered garble. Dave suppressed his laughter as best he could, though he was grinning like a fiend. John was horrified by the conversation taking place and wanted nothing more than to run and hide. Of the very few topics he never wanted to discuss with anyone, even Dave, his intimacies with Karkat were top of the list. He tried to change the subject but his brain and vocals were not on the same page.

Dave was having a hard time controlling himself as John fidgeted uncomfortably on the edge of his seat, squirming in absolute awkwardness. It was funny as hell seeing his best bro all twisted up in a blushing knot like a school girl being called out on her crush. But more than just embarrassing the hell out of him it was also distracting John from the current situation with Karkat, which was a very good thing considering the events of last night. Now all he needed to do was get him to laugh, after all prank masters are supposed to laugh right?

"Come 'ere, Egbert. Let me test those handles." Dave said as he lunged forward, hands extended.

John jolted back and tried to scurry away but Dave was on him with a quick leap. He latched onto John's hips and pulled him to the floor, straddling him as he thrashed about. Once situated Dave began to tickle John wherever he could reach. John wiggled and squirmed trying to get loose but Dave was firmly placed on top of him.

"D-Dav-st-stop!" John gasped between bursts of laughter.

John tried to pull Dave's hands away from him but the other was stronger and continued his assault. As hard as John thrashed he was unable to dislodge Dave from his position, however, he did still have a chance. As quick as he could John reached forward and snatched Dave's shades right off his face. The boy's tickle attack stopped immediately as he reached for his glasses, which John was holding as far out of reach as he could.

"Dude, not cool. Give 'em back." Dave ordered as he tried pulling John's arm which held them.

It was during this struggle that a beeping sounded through the room. John stopped his movement, giving Dave the opportunity he needed to re-claim his shades once more. John twisted and tossed Dave off him with a gust of air as he flailed his way to his phone. Dave, having been blown back onto the couch, watched as John flipped open his cell and skim the new message. His body tensed as John frowned at the message before flipping his phone closed again.

"What's up?" Dave asked.

"He wants me to meet him." John replied, his voice heavy.

"Isn't that good news?" Dave asked as John's face became worried.

"He used my last name." John stated, turning to face Dave, "He doesn't do that unless he's angry or…it's bad news."

Karkat sat and waited with his elbows on his knees and his chin resting on his hands. He wasn't too far from Dave's house though he wasn't exactly close either. He had meant only to walk a bit to clear his head, not to travel all the way out here. Now that he was here though, there was nothing to interrupt him from his task. He had texted John and now waited for him to fly over from his human moirails house to where he sat, glaring blankly out in front of him.

"Karkat." John's voice spoke from behind him making his stomach tighten.

The boy walked over slowly from behind the troll, planning to sit beside him. Karkat, however, stood once John had walked close enough and turned with a heavy scowl on his face, avoiding direct eye contact. John felt his chest tense at the others expression, he was very much afraid at this point.

"Egbert." Karkat started, which only made John's anxiety grow.

"Is everything alright, Karkat?" John asked, seeing the hesitation in the other's eyes.

He stepped forward towards Karkat but the troll stepped back to keep the distance between them.

"I think we should-, I don't know if we-" Karkat stumbled over his words before taking a deep breath and glaring at the ground, fists clenched tight, "We can't be matesprites anymore."

The words left his mouth coldly, hitting John's ears like ice. Karkat couldn't lift his head to look at the boy, but he could hear the sudden lack of breathing. John's body was frozen in place as his mind registered what had been said. His lungs burned as they refused to function and his mouth was agape in shock. Karkat's gaze remained on the ground, the deep scowl set firmly on his face. He couldn't bring himself to look up at John and see those bright blue eyes fill with tears as he was sure they were.

"I'm sorry-" Karkat started as he turned away.

"Why?" John interrupted, his voice strained as if on the edge of a sob.

"It just- It wasn't going to work out between us." Karkat growled with his back to him, he could hear the pain in John's voice and it cut into him.

"But- Why not?" John asked, his body starting to shake and tears burning in his eyes.

"We just couldn't have-"

"What did I do wrong?" John asked desperately, the question ripping into Karkat.

"You didn't do anything wrong, it just- Fuck." Karkat cursed, repeating his first vague statement, "It just wasn't going to work. You're a human and I'm a troll. It just-"

A pitiful whimper escaped John's lips as he tried not to cry. Karkat felt his chest tighten at the sound and started to walk forward, away from John.

"Please don't-" John pleaded as he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the troll, "Please don't leave me Karkat. I need you."

"Egbert-"

"_John_. You have to call me John." The boy corrected, his tears falling freely and soaking onto the back of Karkat's shirt, "You have to, because that means everything will be fine. Everything will be fine and we can forget this conversation ever happened."

"I can't." Karkat replied heavily, his own voice tense now as red tinted tears welled in his own eyes, "We can't."

Karkat pulled John's arms from around his torso and moved away from him. John stood on his own for a moment before he sank to his knees and watched the troll start to walk away. The tears cascaded from the boy's eyes and down over his cheeks as he neglected to wipe them away. His body shook from his efforts not to cry, a battle he was quickly loosing.

"You're breaking your rule, Karkat." John called after him in a tear stained voice, "'You can't just start something like this and just walk away', Remember? You can't."

The last word cracked making Karkat stop; he growled before breaking into a run as fast as he could. He could still hear John's sob as he ran, tears spilling from his own eyes and staining his cheeks. He hated the sound of it, always had and he hated himself for having caused it. But more than that, he hated himself for running away, for leaving John alone in this state, for being the one to break his heart. His chest throbbed as he continued forward unable to bring himself to stop or slow down or even to look back.

John remained in his place where Karkat had left him hours ago. He felt too weak to stand let alone fly and he was still too shocked to even think of going anywhere. All the time they had been together Karkat had assured him they would be fine together, that nothing bad was going to happen. Things had been going so well between them and even the few fights they did have were small and never lasted through an hour. They had been working out the differences of their species over time, learning what was and was not okay and the like. Sure John had a hard time remembering all of it and yea he did slip up more than a few times, but he tried. He tried and he would never stop trying to get it right, he would never stop because it meant he could stay with Karkat. But now, now what was the point in any of it? Karkat was gone now.

John felt the pain well up in his chest again and threaten to spill over, but he held it down as best he could. His body shook and he could feel the burn of tears in his eyes but he didn't let them fall. He needed to keep together, he needed to think, he needed a friend. He didn't want to go back to Dave in tears for a second time, but he was the closest friend he had which is what he really needed right now. Getting shakily to his feet John managed to stagger back towards Dave's place.

Dave sat on his couch with his hands folded, his lips resting upon them. John had left a while ago to meet with Karkat and had not returned. Part of him said this was a good thing, but there was another part that told him this was something to worry about as well. He had hoped John would send a message if things had worked out as a sort of heads up or something; or maybe a message that things had gone wrong, worst case scenario. What had him on edge was the visit Gamzee had paid earlier that day when John had been asleep.

Gamzee had dropped in with news of Karkat's current situation, which he was forced to tell Dave as John was still sleeping. According to the juggalo things were going less than positively. Two trolls down and a third on the way, the only problem is that Karkat was the third troll. From what Dave could decipher of Gamzee's information was that Vriska had Karkat in a tight spot and if things tipped any further in the spider bitches direction there were sure to be tears. Another point Gamzee had made on his way out was the block that Dave had forgotten about from when John had first spent the night. A matter he corrected as soon as the troll had left, though he feared it might have been too late.

He wasn't sure what Karkat was going to do during this little meeting with John, but he hoped it was good news. For John's sake he hoped it was good news. He was jostled from his thoughts by a weak knocking at his door. Jumping over the back of the couch he didn't even bother looking through the peephole before opening it.

John stood with red puffy eyes and shaking shoulders in his doorway once more, no troll in sight. One look and Dave knew what had happened. A look passed between them and John bit his lip to stifle a sob, his hands in tight shaking fists as tears escaped his eyes once more. Dave stepped forward and placed his hands on the other's shoulders comfortingly. John's legs went limp and he sunk down to the ground. Dave caught him and sank down with him, letting the boy weep into his shirt. John clung to Dave tightly as he cried, shaking the both of them.

The most Dave could do was shoosh and pap to the best of his abilities, though he knew it wasn't really going to help. His best bro had just been dumped by someone he really loved. There were no shoosh pap's that could handle that, not even from him.

Yea, I did that. I left you hangin'. Don't lose your grip there on that ledge. It's a long way down.


	4. To Be Apart

I got another one done! W0000000000000000T!

*insert some kind of victory thing here*

Okay, so the laptop I was hoping for with word processor came, but has not the program that I crave...Fuuuuu-

Anyway, I am still working in wordpad so if you spot a mistake please let me know so that I can fix it. Thank you all for reading and a special Thanks to all the people that give me reviews. Really, I get so happy I should be ashamed...But I'm not so keep sending them. xD

John lay on his bed staring at the ceiling as he had been doing for the past two days. He had left Dave's place after spending the better part of a month there but had not done much since he got back to his house. He felt exhausted and heavy with little to no energy to do anything besides making the occasional trip to the bathroom. He felt numb and everything around him seemed dulled, all except the silence. The stillness of his empty house seemed sharp and overbearing, but he had nowhere else to go. He didn't want to burden any of his friends with his relationship problem, or rather, the issues of his ended relationship. He had already done that with Dave, whom he was sure was tired of hearing about it.

With a heavy sigh John looked lazily to his night stand to check the time; 1:45 a.m., though he could tell by the darkness outside that it was pretty freakin' early. Sitting up on his bed John pulled his knees up to his chest and closed his eyes. He hated the silence of his house, he always had. Even before he played Sburb, when his father had to work late the house would be so still it would drive him crazy. He would leave radios on to try and drive out the quietness, but it rarely ever helped. The noise was just bland, void of any feelings of life or company. Things got better when he met Dave, Rose, and Jade though. One of them was always on the computer to talk to whenever he got lonely or couldn't sleep, which was pretty often. Even from an early age John had never really slept soundly through the night. He would wake up at odd hours and just sit in his bed waiting for either sleep to re-take him or sunrise.

On more than a few occasions when he was younger he'd wake his father and make the man sleep in his bed with him just so he wouldn't be alone. It helped a bit and more often than not he would drift back to sleep with his father there. The nights he spent with Karkat went more or less the same way. He would wake up for some unknown reason and just lay in the makeshift bed of blankets and pillows. But Karkat was always there next to him; the troll never slept in his recuperacoon when John was over. He would snuggle up against Karkat's warm body and listen to his steady slumbering breath; a sound that would shift into a sort of purring the more John tucked against the troll. The rhythmic sound would send him back to sleep with ease. But now that was over and John was forced to sleep alone in his own bed in the silence of his house, not even his father was there to run too anymore. That fact made the place seem colder than ever before.

Shivering slightly John pulled his blanket over him like a cloak. It wasn't really cold, but the blanket over his shoulders was a little comforting. Though even with this slight comfort John already knew he would not be getting back to sleep tonight.

Dave had not heard a word from John since he had left and it was starting to make him worry. To be honest he had been surprised when the other boy told him he was going to go home. Dave knew how much his best bro hated to be alone, especially when he was feeling low. He had assured John that is was fine if he needed to stay a bit longer but John had been pretty adamant about leaving. He had even tried to give a weak smile before he left, a pitiful smile that bothered Dave more than he had let on. It was hard not seeing his bro being his usual cheery, prank-happy self and it was interfering with his sick beats; throwin' him off his game and shit.

He didn't really know why it disturbed him so much, but it did. He had tried sending John a few messages but he had apparently turned his phone off. This part is what bothered Dave the most actually. John never turned his phone off, for anything. Turning it off was like cutting ties to the world, to all his friends. It was isolating and John hated being alone.

- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG]

TG: hey

GG: hi dave J

GG: what are you doing on so late?

TG: i could ask you the same thing

GG: i guess you could but i won't tell.

GG: it's a surprise! ;)

TG: of course it is

TG: what was i even thinking asking you about it

GG: are you okay dave?

GG: you don't look happy. L

TG: are you spying on me again with those freaky space glasses of yours?

TG: dude show some respect for privacy here.

GG: i'm sorry.

GG: i was just concerned is all. L

GG: are you going to tell me what's wrong though?

GG: maybe i can help.

TG: well yea you can help

TG: thats why i got on here in the first place

TG: i need you use those intrusive specs of yours to look in on egbert

GG: i thought he was staying with you

TG: he was until about two days ago when he decided to fly the coop

TG: dudes been off the map since he left

GG: maybe he was feeling better?

TG: trust me he was not feeling any better when he left

TG: he's been cryin his eyes out since that douche dumped him

GG: i guess i could look in on him then.

GG: in fact i will look in on them both!

GG: L aww

TG: what?

GG: john is all alone! D:

GG: he's curled in a ball on his bed right now

GG: he looks so sad! L

GG: i wonder why he isn't asleep.

TG: dudes got some kind of insomnia or some shit

TG: wakes up and paces around for a while

TG: i swear he's stepped on everything i own at least once

GG: oh no!

TG: what's going on now?

GG: aww! poor karkat! D:

GG: he looks so lonely!

TG: so what

TG: it's his own damn fault

TG: screw him

GG: but dave, he looks so sad! L

TG: look he ditched egbert

TG: i don't really give a damn what he looks like

TG: he fucked this up remember?

GG: but if you could see what i see you'd know he didn't mean it!

GG: he still loves john

GG: a lot

GG: and i can see it right here in front of me!

GG: you have to believe me! D:

TG: i'm not helping them get back together before you even suggest it

TG: the sooner egbert forgets about him the better

- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG]

GG: But he doesn't want to forget L

- gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

The hive was dark and quite in the early hours of the morning and Karkat lay alone in the mess of blankets on his bedroom floor that had once served as a bed when John slept over. He had been packing John's things that had been left with him and upon catching the boy's scent from the coverings Karkat had lay down and burrowed into them, taking deep full breaths. He missed John, he really did. The feeling had welled up in his chest and he buried his face in the blankets using them to stifle the whimper that crawled past his lips. Gripping the coverings he tightened the muscles in his throat in an attempt to keep himself from breaking down further. It only caused him pain, however, as his throat contracted sharply as he started to cry. Wrapping himself up in a cocoon of blankets Karkat curled into a ball of depression and wept. Of all the things he had ever ruined in his life this was the thing he regretted most.

Gamzee stood in the doorway to Karkat's respiteblock and looked at the tangled ball of sheets that lay sprawled on the floor. The steady rise and fall of them betraying Karkat's presence within. The smaller troll hadn't answered his trollian nor his door in a while and thus Gamzee had taken it upon himself to check up on him, even if it meant a slight bit of hive intrusion. With a heavy sigh the Capricorn pushed off the doorframe and entered the room, slowly making his way over to the bundle on the floor. He stopped at the end of the sheets and knelt down still a good foot from the slumbering troll.

"Hey, my brother, it's time to be wakin' the motherfuck up."

The small pile growled lightly and shifted a bit before settling back down, clearly the Cancer was not going to wake so easily; the warmth of the blankets and the scent of John that lingered in them were far too enticing. Gamzee felt kind of guilty in trying to wake his moirail when he was sleeping so comfortably, a rare thing for the small and irritable troll. Deciding to let the other sleep a bit more the painted troll opted to wander his best bro's room a bit. On the desk where Karkat's crabtop sat was a box whiched looked like it was being packed, and having nothing better to do at the moment the taller troll began to peek in at the items. And by 'peek in' of course I mean he started taking things out and examining them with the grace and care of a grub.

At first it seemed like an assortment of odds and ends; some strange circular thing with a string attached, a bone white mask with a hidious grin, a deck of jokers cards, etc. The thing that got his attention though was a small peice of paper. Or, to be more accurate, a picture. It had been taken at the lake that was nearby, the one John was so fond of going to for 'nestalgic reasons'. The picture was of both John and Karkat. John had clung himself onto the troll, his ever present smile even bigger then normal. But what stood out in the photo, to Gamzee at least, was his moirail.

He was smiling.

Not just smiling though, it was a look of happiness Gamzee hadn't ever seen on the other troll, and there it sat as the Cancer's own arm was snaked around the human's waist. Ever since the two had become Matesprites there had been small changes in Karkat. Although still loud and irratable he had become calmer in a way. He was more prone to hanging out in person instead of simply existing by Trollian alone as well. John had literally pulled him out of his crabby little shell. With John no longer around he would be losing all that. But what he was losing most, what hurt Gamzee to know he was losing most, was this smile. This happiness.

"Gamzee."

"Honk!" The Capricorn yelped at the sudden voice of his moirail behind him.

Dropping the picture Gamzee turned around quickly to face him. The other was still situated on the floor, wrapped up pretty extensively in the sheets and blankets. His expression was one of both fatigue and annoyance and his eyes were puffy, telling any who looked at him that he had been crying.

"Whoa, motherfucker. Shouldn't be all up and motherfuckin' startlin' a brother." Gamzee said taking a breath as he clutched his chest.

"What the fuck are you doing in my hive? I don't recall letting you in." Karkat asked stiffly.

"We were all up and motherfuckin' gettin' our concern on again, bro." Gamzee replied.

"How many time do I have to say it? Everythng is fucking fine. Now get out." Karkat snapped before floping back down into the blankets.

"Kar-bro."

"_I said get the fuck out, Gamzee!_" Karkat snarled from his position.

Gamzee stood still, taken by surprise by his moirail's tone. Karkat, for all his anger, had never been one to snarl so viciously. He prefered colorful and detailed insults over savage outbursts of vocal vomit. The small troll was attempting now to burrow deeper into the coverings either blocking out the fact that Gamzee was still there or not caring if he was or not. Though Gamzee had never seen it before he still could see what was happening here.

Karkat was crashing.

Losing a Matesprite was dangerous for a troll for a few reasons, one of which was the lack of stability it created. To fall out of step and change matepsrites was common enough, but that's not what happened. Both Karkat and John were still strongly connected and being forced apart like this was literally killing him. Karkat could spew out 'I'm fine' all he wanted, but that couldn't change the fact that inside he was unraveling.

Kneeling down beside the bundle of blankets Gamzee cautiously reached a hand out, saying Karkat's name gently. There was a stifled growl from within, but he ignored it. As softly as he could he tried to remove at least a single sheet from over his crumbling moirail's head. Without further warning Karkat lunged from the pile and dug his fangs into the other trolls hand. Gamzee screamed in pain as he was tackled to the floor, his hand firmly pincered in his best bro's teeth.

"K-karkat!" Gamzee yelped trying to push the other off him without hurting him.

Karkat's claws raked over the others arms as he tried to get him to back off. Had to get him away from John's things. He couldn't be allowed to ruin anything of John's, not allowed to touch him. He wasn't going to let anyone take him away. Not Vriska, not the Drone, not any of the trolls, or humans. No one. No one was going to take him away. But John was already gone now wasn't he?

Karkat stopped moving suddenly, giving Gamzee the chance he needed to push him off. Not expecting a complete lack of resistance the Capricorn shoved his moirail off him with such force that he was tossed into the desk, knocking the box down and dumping it's contents across the floor. Gamzee didn't move as he nursed his bleeding hand and Karkat lay quitely on the floor, eyes open but not moving except for the rise and fall of his chest. Looking over the items that had spilled around him he didn't seem to notice the other troll in the room, or the indigo blood that ran down his arm and onto the floor. Blood that dripped from his mouth and claws a bit. When Gamzee shifted though the Cancer snapped back to life enough to glare and snarl a warning. Snatching up what items were closest Karkat shoved them under the blankets and crawled under with them.

"Karkat." Gamzee said in a pleading voice, but was growled at and otherwise ignored.

Waiting a few more minutes for a response Gamzee eventually pulled himself off the floor and exited the room. This was bad. This was motherfuckin' disasterous. He didn't know what to do to help his moirail, wasn't even sure if anyone could at this point. He had never seen a troll crash before and he needed to get help.

John, finally giving up at any form of sleep, dragged himself outof his room only to crash on the sofa downstairs. His body was tense, trying to tell him he didn't need anymore sleep but activity. He needed to move around before his muscles atrophied. He really didn't have the mindset for that though; that is to say, he didn't really care if his muscles atrophied or not. His stomach cried painfully to be fed as well, another thing he was ignoring for the time being. When he had left Dave's he thought he could at least make it a few weeks on his own, but it was being proven fast that without an intervention of some sort he wasn't going to make it through one.

There was a knocking at his front door suddenly. He looked over at it with disinterest, doing nothing to answer it. The knocking came again followed by a voice this time.

"Uh, h-hello?" The meek voice called out, "John? Are you, uh, here right now?"

John didn't move or make a sound.

"John? If you're there I, uh, really need to talk to you." The voice said nervously.

With a heavy sigh John lifted himself off the cushions and made his way to the door, unlocking it and opening it slowly.

"Hey, Tavros." He greeted dully.

"Oh, uh, hello, John." The Taurus greeted, his expression becoming concerned at the boys appearance.

John hadn't taken the time to change clothes in the last day or so, nor had he tried running a comb through his hair, let alone wash his face. He looked pretty close to a homeless person at this point, even his eye's looked bland and dull.

"Are you, uh, feeling alright?" Tavros asked though he already knew the answer.

"I guess I'm fine." John replied not telling a lie, but not saying he felt like he had a mini Jack Noir ripping at his insides either.

Tavros looked the boy over again, he was clearly not feeling 'fine'.

"You said you needed to talk to me?" John prompted after a moment.

Jolting back to the topic at hand Tavros nodded and John moved aside to allow the troll into his house. Looking around at the stange human decor Tavros once more had to be brought back to the topic at hand by John, who motioned for him to sit on the couch. Once seated the Taurus fidgited as he tried to think of how to explain what he had come here to say.

"I don't really know how to, uh, say any of this really." He started, "This is kind of about, Karkat..."

Yea~

I just did that.

ewe


	5. Falling

- terminallyCapricious [TC] Started trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

TC: HeY

TA: whoa gz

TA: ii wa2n't expectiing you two pop up here

TA: what2 up?

TC: sHiTs MoThErFuCkIn BaD bRo

TA: thii2 about kk?

TC: YeA mAn

TC: I tHiNk He'S aLl Up AnD cRaShIn'

TC: ShIt MaN

TC: dAmN nEaR tOoK mY mOtHeRfUcKiN hAnD oFf

TA: waiit

TA: kk attacked you?

TA: how bad i2 he?

TC: I aInT nO mOtHeRfUKiN eXpErT

TC: bUt It'S pReTtY mOtHeRfUcKiN bAd

TC: GuNnA nEeD a BiG aSs MiRaClE hErE mY bRoThEr

TA: fuck

TA: okay here2 what2 goiing two happen

TA: you are goiing two keep an eye on hiim whiile ii contact tz

TA: iit'll bee a few hour2 but we'll bee there

TC: BeSt MoThErFuCkIn PuT YoUr HuRrY oN bRo

TA: have you triied gettiing iin contact wiith jn?

TC: YeA, bUt He AiNt AnSwErIn'

TC: I cOuLd SeNd TaV oVeR

TA: do iit

TA: we're goiing two need hiim

- twinArmageddons [TA] Ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]

That conversation took place a little over three hours ago and since then Sollux had gotten no other messages. He had stopped off once to pick up Terezi but other then that he was making a bee line for Karkat's hive. Still at least two hours out he grit his teeth and hoped nothing would happen until he got there. He hadn't spoken to his moirail in a while, since all this buisness with Vriska had started really. They had spoken a few times at the beginning but that stopped once things began heating up with the raging Scorpio. If he had kept up on him, had spoken to him, if he had made any kind of effort really...fuck. This was all his fucking fault. Moirails are supposed to be there for one other and he failed at that. Gamzee had been closer, had more access to him. But, shit. Karkat was moirailing to the Capricorn as Sollux was _supposed _to be doing for the Cancer. Yet here he was, hurtling off at the speed near gog-damn light to attempt and deffuse the tense and potentially fatal emotional fucking blowout from the small troll.

Throughout the game Karkat had managed to keep his mental and emotional breaks few and far between for the most part. Even when he did have one he was fairly good at keeping himself on a level that could be fixed by basically anyone who stopped and sent a shoosh and a pap in his general direction. And not once had he ever full on, or even half on, attacked anyone. Especially not Gamzee. Hell, he was the one who made it possible for the Capricorn to make it to the end in the first place. He had made it possible for basically everyone to make it. How he and the humans had managed it was something they had never quite explained, but that wasn't really the issue was it? No, the issue was that Karkat was about to flip his fucking shit and he might not get there in time at this point to stop it, if it were even possible. This thought scared the Gemini; he didn't want to lose Karkat no matter how much of an ass he could be.

Looking down at the blind troll he was escorting with him Sollux grimaced when she slid her tongue across her glasses to read whatever was being sent to her. She had been on Trollian since before he had even picked her up; she had been much too pre-occupied with it to even bother saying who it was on the other end. In fact the only words she had said to him at all were 'hit the skies' or whatever when he had arrived at her hive earlier. She hadn't cackled the entire time either, nor squealed or anything. She held firm with a look of stubborn concentration as she conversed away with whomever was on at the moment. He had thought about asking her who it was, but really, he had enough in his own thinkpan to deal with at the moment. After all, someone had to berate him for being the useless peice of failed moirail that he was.

The flight out at this point had been silent aside from the whizzing of wind past her ears as the blind troll was zipped through the skies. Sollux had been thankfully quiet as she conducted her affairs on Trollian. Though she was more then aware that the silence was being used to beat himself into mental and emotional putty over the current state of emergency that had pulled them both from their hives. Had she not been fully pre-occupied she would have taken a moment to calm his nerves a bit. As it was that was going to have to wait.

Currently she had three Trollian tabs open. Buisness was being done. One tab was open with the coolkid Strider, giving him the fat and skinny of the situation and seeing if he could possibly get a hold of John seeing as no one else seemed to be having any luck as far as she knew. At first he had been a royal douche on the subject, until, of course, she filled him in on all the ins and outs of Matespriteship and what happens to trolls when that bond was broken. Being a coolkid he got right on top of shit after that, which was helpful.

The second tab was with Kanaya. She wasn't in a position to make the journey to the hive, but she was just a fountain of information none the less. Along with Rose she was feeding Terezi the most she could find on aiding a troll through a matesprite loss, which of course was all theory at this point in time. Nothing in troll society had ever prepared them to deal with this in any other way then to cull the troll that was becoming a hazard.

The final tab was open with none other then the orchestrator of the chaos unfolding. Vriska was as cold and bitter as ever. It was the first chat she had opened all of four hours ago and had been going in odd circles the entire time. The Scorpio was clearly not alarmed by the information that her 'once-leader' was now crashing, in fact, that information seemed to amuse her. It became clear after a while that her real target was John all along though. Every so often she would drop a hint like she was being sneaky, though it didn't take more then a few minutes, if that, to figure out what she was getting at. It was no secret that John had turned Vriska down for Karkat, nor was it a secret that she held a grudge against Karkat for it ever since. What _was _a new development was that she was bitter at John as well.

When Terezi had first opened the chat with Vriska she was possitive that the Scorpio's goal was to get John alone again. To make him available for her to try and sink her fangs into again. But, as it turned out, that was not her intent. This whole thing had been an elaborate form of revenge. Getting Equius to brake Karkat's certainty, using Eridan to bring down his patience, and then going in her self to shatter whatever else she could mentally and physically. But it was mainly just to get the other out of the way. What she had wanted was to get John alone. Not to try and take him herself, but to make him hurt. To get revenge for turing her down. She had waited a while and had kept up communications with him when she could, all the while scheming how best to tear him down. But this, this was low, even for her.

"Hey, Sollux." Terezi spoke suddenly, "How much farther are we?"

"Not too far." Sollux asnwered, a little startled by the sudden conversation, "Why?"

"Because with the damage that's been done the sooner we get there the better." She replied simply.

"I know, Tz. I know." Sollux sighed heavily, "We should be there in leth then an hour."

Back at Karkat's hive Gamzee had set up a sort of nest outside the respiteblock door. He had planned on sitting in the room along a wall, but when he had tried to re-enter after talking with Sollux and Tavros Karkat hadn't allowed it. He snarled viciously and had even gone so far as to hurl one of his scyths at the door, lodging it in at about head level. He had tried to hear what might be going on on the other side, but it was quiet. Though there was the occational flow of cursing and muffled scraping. The fact that Karkat was still lucid enough to talk gave the Capricorn hope that maybe there was still a chance to help.

On the other side of the door Karkat had torn apart his room entirely. Books and DvD's were torn from the shelf and scattered across the floor. His desk was on it's side and his crabtop's monitor was torn right off. The dresser drawers were pulled out, emptied and tossed off to the side; the clothes from inside were added to the pile of blankets and small trinkets that lay in the center of the room. Every time he remembered something of John's Karkat would launch into a search and then bring it back to the pile. The boy's scent was still all over them. It was the only thing he could think about. The only thing he cared about.

This space, it was for him and John.

Only them.

This room was theirs and no one else had any right or reason to be there.

Sifting through the clothing Karkat hesitated when he uncovered a certain blue hoodie. He ran his fingers over the insignia on the front before falling ontop of it, letting the lingering scent reach in and ease the buzzing in his thinkpan. He couldn't bring himself to do anything but to try and surround himself with any and everything of John's that he had. Without these things he wouldn't be able to function; wouldn't be able to sleep, to eat, to breath. And he needed air, he needed _his _Heir.

By the time Sollux had finally gotten to Katkat's hive it was just past sunset. Having traveled so far during the daylight hours the Gemini's head was pounding with a fairly large migraine. Rubbing his temples he entered the dark hive followed by Terezi. Calling out somewhat quietly the two waited a few moments for Gamzee to make his way down the stairs.

"Hey motherfuckers-"

"Anything happen thince thith morning?" Sollux asked quickly.

"Not a motherfuckin' thing aside from some bangin' and cursin' and shit." Gamzee replied.

"Any chance he could still be papped back to perfection?" Terezi asked next.

"Not without losin' a few limbs first." An oh-so-cool voice answered from the stairs.

Standing on a step just low enough to be seen on the first floor stood none other then Dave Strider, leaning against the wall in classic coolkid stance. Sollux looked at Dave and then to Gamzee in confusion for two reasons. One, Dave was at Karkat's hive and the two more or less hated each other. And two, Gamzee and Strider being in the same place usually spelled 'strife', yet nothing on either of them looked damaged. That is, aside from the towel wrapped hand of the juggalo which had already been mentioned as being the Cancer's handy work.

"Oh yea." Gamzee said with some suprise, "Strider got here at some point."

"An hour and fourty-three minutes ago." Dave stated coolly.

"You get a hold of Jn?" Sollux asked the blond.

"No. Turned his phone off." He replied bluntly.

"Then we're going to have to do thomething ourthelveth." The Gemini stated rubbing his temple.

"You better take something before you're the next to flip your shit." Dave told the monochrome eyed troll.

"Thankth for your conthern thtrider, but my unthtable moirail holdth firtht plathe on my give a shit litht."

"In other words, he didn't bring anything with him." Terezi summed up bluntly.

"Shut up Tz, I'll be fine anyway."

"You wont be able to use your pyconics properly with a migraine." Terezi pointed out, "And what do you think our chances are of not needing them at this point?"

"It'th not like I can just blitth off and get thome." Sollux countered with a slight growl.

"No prob, man." Dave spoke up now, "Egbert's been stockpiling this place with enough med shit to make a hospital green with envy."

"A what?" Sollux asked accompanied by confused looks from all trolls present.

"Never mind. Just look in some closets, there's bound to be some pills packed in somewhere." The blond replied.

"It's not our hive, Strider. We can't just go snooping around in it just because he isn't functioning enough to stop us." Terezi stated plainly.

"Why not?' Dave asked stoically, "Fuck it, whatever. Hold it here and I'll grab some. Knowing Egbert most of the stuff's in the bathroom."

"Dave-"

"No, chill. It's a human thing."

With that he was gone, leaving the trolls to converse amongst themselves.

~ Enter time warp?

Hellz yes

Dave closed out of Pesterchum after talking with Terezi about the mental meltdown that Vantas was currently going through. He kind of felt maybe a little bit guilty now about hoping he was suffering and all after breaking up with Egbert. He knew what the situation had been like for the Cancer before because the troll had told him about it the first time John fled to his house. He had kind of even been rooting for him up until the point Egbert came back from meeting him that day, hours later and in tears.

But then, he hadn't really understand the severity of this at the time. To him, and most likely John also, it was just another break up. Two people splitting up because one of them was a douche. But not with trolls. If a troll is separated from their matesprite or whatever for any given circumstance and they were still close it seriously fucked up their shit. Apparently to the point of going all un-ironically Rambo on anything that moved in their general vacinity.

Which would mean to say that Karkat and John had still been very close.

Which would mean to say that Karkat knew what would happen and went through with it anyway.

Which would mean Harley was right.

- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG]

TG: yo harley

TG: i can see you're not on right now so ill just leave you this message

TG: turns out some serious emotional troll shit is going down

TG: when you get on later i need you to check in on egbert and tell me whats goin down

TG: no one can get a hold of him and from what i understand he's like pycho troll cryptonight

- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG]

Flipping his phone closed with a sharp snap Dave chapolaugued what he figured he'd need and started off towards ground zero. He'd never been to the troll's hive before but thanks to John he had a rough idea as to where it was.

The distance between his house and Karkat's was slightly more than what he had originally anticipated and about halfway through his trek he had to break out some transport. By the time he got there the whole place was quiet, like a shitty 1990's horror movie. No lights to speak of and, as previously stated, no noise. With the information Terezi had given Dave was half expecting the walls to be painted with any and all liquified substances and bodies sewn together like a texan massacre carpet or some shit.

"Yo, anyone not maimed present?" Dave called out with no reply.

Peeking into the various rooms downstairs first Dave couldn't help but feel a little unnerved. Terezi had mentioned that the juggalo was supposed to be keeping things calm until she and Sollux arrived, and yet, no one seemed to be here. Not the clown or the mental case. He didn't see any signs of strifing though so that was a plus. No trails of blood either. The only odd thing he could find was the lack of two cushions from the couch; the one left behind sitting lonely on the left.

Stopping at the bottom of the stairs Dave waited a moment, listening for any kind of movement at the top. When nothing of a dangerous nature could be heard the blond accended slowly, ready to spring to the offencive if needed. He had to squint once at the top, glancing down the hallway for any signs of life...or death.

In the middle of the hall were the two cushions from the couch below and atop them sat a tall dark figure with familiar long slightly spiraled horns on his head. He sat still as if in deep thought, cradling his hand in his lap. Slipping closer Dave could see the blood that was seeping out over the others hand and staining into his pants.

"Should cover that." Dave stated, making the troll jump from surprise with a honk.

"What the motherfuck are you doin' here?" Gamzee growled once he recovered.

"Chill, bro." Dave replied coolly, "I'm a knight, I'm here to save the fuckin' damsel in distress."

Gamzee made no reply but gave the blond sharp look of clear dislike. Paying not a single bit of attention to it Dave made his way closer and glanced towards the closed bedroom door where he took Karkat to be holed up in. The biggest giveaway to that was the familiar curved blade that stuck out from the other side.

"I take it shits not been goin' well." Dave stated looking at the blade; he kept his face stoic but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of apprehention at the sight.

"Seems all up and content enough just to stay all motherfuckin' locked up in there." Gamzee replied shifting a little, wincing when he moved his hand.

Without saying anything more Dave slipped own the hall past the troll. Watching intently with narrowed eyes Gamzee growled as the blond looked into the various upper rooms of his moirails hive. Had he not been more concerned with guarding the door before him he would have put a stop to the culturally offensive search. Roaming through a trolls hive without their permission to at least enter was just not something that was done. Gamzee was Karkat's moirail so he could get away with at least entering without invitation when the situation called for it, though he didn't much like doing so. Dave, however, was not anything close to being such a thing to the Cancer, which made this hive invasion to the highest degree.

Dave, not caring in the least that it was Karkat's place, continued to search until he found the bathroom at the end of the hall. Grabbing the closest towel on the rack he turned and made his way back up the hall, tossing the towel at the troll once he was close enough. Gamzee gave him a confused look, holding the towel up with his good hand. Rolling his eyes the blond got down and reached for the injured hand. Gamzee pulled back sharply, whining a bit at the sharp jerking to his hand.

"Chill, I'm just gunna wrap it before you bleed out or some shit." Dave said trying again for the trolls injury.

"Why do you motherfuckin' care?" The Capricorn asked, though he didn't pull away this time.

"I don't man, shits just ironic." Dave answered bluntly, "How'd he manage to sink his fangs into you anyway?"

"Brother just motherfuckin' leapt up out of motherfuckin' nowhere." Gamzee replied wincing again as the Knight pulled the towel a little too tight.

"That shit normal for this kind of thing?" Dave asked, though Terezi had explained most of it.

"I don't have a motherfuckin' clue." Gamzee answered, "Ain't never seen a troll crash before."

Dave stood again and leaned towards the door. It was still mainly quiet, though a slight shifting could be heard. It was hard to hear through the door, but the blade sticking out kept the Knight from trying to peek in.

"So, what's the plan?" Dave asked, though he knew better then to ask the juggalo of all trolls.

"I ain't got no motherfuckin' idea." Gamzee replied predictably, "But Sollux and Terezi should be up here all soon and shit."

Having nothing else to really talk about that wouldn't inspire the clown to the usual strife Dave sat on the floor beside the door to Karkat's room. Looking over at the Capricorn Dave was sure he'd be glaring at him like usual, but instead the troll was fingering the towel across his hand and looking at the door with a blank stare. From the gathered blood on the others finger tips it was clear he had been running them over the opened wounds before Dave got there, the vacant stare obviously placed as he thought about his moirail locked in the room in front him.

A string of muffled cursing could just be heard through the door along with a series of rough shuffling noises. This seemed to calm Gamzee a bit oddly, though it had more of an opposite affect on Dave; not that he'd show it though. Mostly it was because the cursing was in Alternian and sounded more like growled clicking or something; basically what he pictured pychotics muttering in a ward somewhere before jumping a nurse. Having seen the gouges in the taller trolls hand Dave was in no hurry to see for himself the damage the crazed Cancer could do, would do, with the slightest provokation.

Back to the present?

Hmmm...

Nope

Sitting at her computer a certain sociopath sat and grinned in the darkness of her respiteblock, the light from her monitor giving her fangs a sinister gleam. Everything was going according to plan, perfectly according to plan in fact. No, better then perfectly because she got a bonus. As it turned out Karkat, the former wannabe leader and self proclaimed badass was falling head over heels down the mindfuck spiral that is Crashing. He had taken a bit more of her time then she had originally thought he would when she had started out, but now he was falling faster then she'd have guessed. Her smile grew wider and she cackled a little under her breath.

Flipping through her Trollian's name index she saw that John was still absent. This made her frown a bit. All of her work and schemes, all the energy she put into this particular iron in her fires and she was unable to even see its effects. She wanted to see it. She wanted to know that he was feeling every piece of her handywork. Karkat had merely been a bystander and he was reacting to it more then John was. But, then...

Her grin returned with another dark chuckle.

Karkat _was_ reacting to it, he was Crashing afterall. And Sollux and Terezi were sent on clean up duty. John was in the black which meant he had no idea. Which would make it even better when he found out about it later. But there was one thing that could make it sharper.

Just one

Little

Thing

How 'bout now?

Lemme think...

...

Okay, only sort of though.

"Jeguth, Gz. You weren't kidding when you thaid he almotht took your hand off." Sollux was saying as he looked over his mauled hand before re-wrapping it.

Gamzee looked wearily at his injured limb and sighed; the frown on his face sitting there almost painfully.

"Gz?" Sollux questioned the dejected juggalo.

"Shits all motherfuckin' wrong man." The Capricorn stated heavily.

Sollux only nodded grimly in response. The room was tense as the three sat contemplating their own thoughts on the current situation. Gamzee, with his hand now re-wrapped, went back to running his fingers over it absently. The juggalo's actions catching Sollux's attention as he rubbed his temples to try and ease the migraine that raged within his thinkpan.

"What did you thay that made him attack you anyway'th." He asked.

"I didn't say anything." Gamzee answered, "I just came to check in on a brother. When I got here I had to go all up and lettin' myself in an shit 'cus he went on ignoring a motherfucker."

Sollux nodded but Terezi remained silent and alert. She was facing the far wall with her eyes blankly staring at nothing,but her expression was one of great concentration.

"I found him up in his respiteblock all hiding out and shit in some sheets-"

"He wasn't in hith recuperacoon?" Sollux asked.

Gamzee shook his head and Terezi turned her head to Sollux as if waiting for him to explain his interruption. When Gamzee was about to continue she interrupted this time.

"Why does that stick out to you, Sollux?" She asked him.

"It'th jutht thomthing kk mentioned onthe. It'th not like it was big or anything."

"Which was?" The blind troll pressed.

"He thaid that the one upthide of John going away at timeth was that he could go back to thleeping in the thlime." He said with a sigh, "But that wath a long time ago."

"That doesn't make it any less relevent." Terezi replied, turning to face Gamzee now, "What happened next?"

"Well I felt all motherfuckin' bad and shit for tryin' to wake him so I waited around a bit for him to all wake up on his own." Gamzee recited as best he could, not really remembering what happened in between, "But when he did he was mean as a motherfucker."

"Thound'th like kk." Sollux sighed.

"But it wasn't. I mean, it was Kar-bro, but it wasn't you know?" Gamzee tried to explain.

"How was he like then?" Terezi asked leaning on her cane more.

"He was all kickin' a motherfucker out with some serious motherfuckin' tones man." Gamzee answered.

"He growl at you?" Sollux asked.

"More like tossing some wicked venom, bro."

"But he was still speaking?" Terezi asked now.

"Yea, tellin' me to all up and leave and shit. Then he went and got his motherfuckin' blanket cocoon on." Gamzee said with a nod, "Didn't want to leave a bro like that so I tried to up and motherfuckin' talk to him."

"Then he attacked you?" Sollux asked.

Gamzee nodded, his fingers grazing over the wounds under the towel.

"Gamzee," Terezi started, a frown on her face as she ran her fingers over the dragon head of her cane, "What happened just before he attacked?"

"I told you, I was just goin' and checking on a bro."

"Yes, but how did you do it?" She pressed, "Nudge him? Poke him?"

"Naw, I just up and started to try and find him in those motherfuckin' sheets." Gamzee answered.

At this Terezi shook her head with a heavy sigh.

"What?" Sollux asked.

"Karkles is going though a Matesprite Crash. His mind is telling him to defend John even though he isnt here. The threat of losing him is being projected on anything his thinkpan deems as an enemy." She stated leaning back off her cane, "And for the time being we all will seem like enemies."

"How do you know thith thtuff?"

"Kanaya and Rose." The Libra replied, "They did their best to find out about it, but it's not exactly widely documented. So unfortunately most of this is all still theory."

"Theory is better then a whole shit ton of nothing." Dave's voice broke in then as he stepped off the final stair.

"Now all we need is a solution." Terezi said with a nod to the coolkid as he entered.

Dave tossed a small bottle at the Psiconic before turning to face the blind troll.

"Any thoughts to that?" He asked.

"I'm not positive about it, but I might have one. It wont fix him, but we'll at least buy ourselves some more time. If it all goes well that is." She replied.

"Any idea is better then just sitting around and doing jack shit." Dave stated and waited for the other to explain.

"We'll still need to wait around for a bit. For this to work we're going to need Sollux as close to his best as we can get him."

It was all here. All of it. Everything in the room that had any kind of connection to John had been gathered and thrown in the pile. But he knew, he knew there were more things. There were more outside the room. But he couldn't get them, couldn't leave. He had to guard them, he needed to be with them, with him.

No. No, he couldn't leave. It was marked. The outside. It was marked. The smear of indigo on the door told him that. They were waiting, waiting for him to go out. To take them away, to take him away, to take John away from him. But they weren't going to. No one would, no one could. No one was going to hurt the blue eyed Heir, death be the punishment for those who tried.

Roughly half an hour later the small group of trolls and Dave made thier way up the stairs and down the hall partway, stopping in front of the blade marked door. They stood there a few moments without a word. Each taking in their final thoughts before the struggle that was sure to ensue.

"Are you ready, Sollux?" Terezi asked looking towards the semi-blind troll.

"I gueth I need to be, don't I?" He countered with a sigh.

Before pushing the door opened Sollux knocked lightly, hoping the gesture would help his Moirail to register them as friends and not enemies. This, however, was not what happened as instead they were met by a low growling from the other side. Sollux looked over at Terezi who only looked towards the door with determination. Swallowing back his anxiety the Gemini proceeded to push the door open slowly.

The pile in the middle of the floor had grown large and lumpy, though the troll was still no where to be seen in the mass. The more the door opened the louder the growls became until finally they formed snarls ripe with the venom of a threatened troll. No one moved, waiting on the off chance that thier presence there might fade into the background if they didn't do anything. For the sake of Terezi's plan they hoped it would.

"Kk." Sollux said softly into the room, only to be ignored.

"Karkles, it's us." Terezi tried after a moment.

The snarling didn't cease, though it did draw back in volume a bit. Lowering his ears and eyes submissively Sollux took a step forward. Karkat's snarling picked up again and, disregarding the others' submissive state, leapt out from the pile he had been crouched in. Objects from the pile flew to the side as the Cancer lunged out, claws extended and rapidly approaching the Gemini. Caught off guard by the suddeness of the attack Sollux froze, eyes wide in shock and fear.

Luckily Dave reacted fast and flash stepped around Sollux and dove forward himself, grabbing the trolls' arms and tugging them away from their target. Karkat snarled at the blond and glared at him with frighteningly visious eyes. Dave struggled to keep the Cancer in his grip, but the troll was surprisingly strong. Managing to get one of his arms free Karkat lunged for the blonds face. He would gotten it too had Sollux not stepped in with his psionics, holding the crazied troll in place.

Despite being held in the field of psychic enery Karkat was still able to struggle, which he did with great ferocity. In this state the others could get a better look at him, which was most troubling. His thrashing claws and exposed fangs were the most noticable obviously. However, it was his eyes that attracted a good deal of attention. They were dialated, his pupils starting to form into slits and the yellow of his eyes were tinting with the slightest hue of red-orange. Karkat's entire face was contorted into one of shear and unfiltered rage as he snapped and growled at them.

"Karkles." Terezi said softly but firmly, now moving into the room herself; ears lowered in submission just as Sollux's were, though being blind she didn't lower her eyes.

Karkat's eyes darted to her, though because he was listening to her or because she was moving was unclear. She stepped right up to him until they were little more then an arms length away. Seeing how close she was Karkat struggled to stretch out and tag her with his claws, though she didn't seem phased by this.

"Listen to me." She said in a calm yet commanding tone, "We are not your enemies. Look at us. We are not going to harm you or John."

The snarls drifted into growling at the sound of John's name, though his eyes were still wild with rage. Terezi waited a few moments before continuing, making sure she had his attention. Or to be more specific, to be sure he could even hear her.

"We are all here to help you. Even Dave." She said motioning to the human.

Karkat's eyes darted over to him for an instant before returning to Terezi. His fingers twitched but he was no longer swinging madly at the air. The Cancer's breathing continued to be tense and rapid as he went on glaring at the blind troll.

Seeing that he was focusing somewhat Terezi switched over to Alternian to calm him more. Hoping the familiar language would create a more soothing atmosphere. After some time the Cancer's growling died down to a grumbled hum in his throat, only reaching a full growl again if someone moved sharply in his line of vision. His eyes were less intense and returning more to their normal yellow color, the slit pupils had completely disappeared though they were still dialated.

No longer able to keep his extended hold on the troll Sollux was forced to let go, wobbling back on weak knees as he did so. Gamzee, ears and eyes lowered in the same way as the other two, stood behind him in order to keep him standing. Were he to drop to the floor the sharp movement could startle thier friend back into his frenzy. Luckily Karkat either didn't seem to register that he was free, or care that nothing was holding him back anymore. Terezi took a tentative step towards him and when he failed to react she took another. Finally she managed to get close enough to him to put her arms around him, which she did as slowly and as gently as she could, still talking to him in Alternian. Karkat's breathing was rough, but no where near the rapid succession it had been.

With the others arms now around him Karkat's eyelids began to droop with fatigue. The attack having certainly worn him down. Shooshing and cooing things in Alternian Terezi smiled when she felt Karkat putting his weight onto her as he started to sway on his feet. Dave watched as the Cancer seemed to drift off whilst standing, ready to leap forward if the short troll started to grow violent again. Shifting on her feet it became clear that she was starting to need help holding him up. Dave had made to do so, but Gamzee slid in beside her and supported his Moirail as his legs finally gave out.

Sollux was weary, but standing none the less and watching just as intently. No one dared to speak until they were sure the Cancer was completely out.

"We should put him in the slime." Terezi said quietly, to which Gamzee nodded and helped to transport the unconcious troll.

"I can't believe that actually worked." Sollux breathed a sigh a relief.

"For now anyway." Terezi pointed out, "Remember, this was only to buy time. There's no way that this was going to actually fix anything."

"Doeth Kn know what to do?" Sollux asked leaning againt the wall for support.

"I'll have to get back to her about that. Hopefully she'll have found something by now."

After Karkat had been safely placed in the recuperacoon with a few of John's scatted belongs within arms reach the group left the room. Heading down stairs once more Terezi once more contacted Kanaya, hoping for some good news. Sollux flopped onto the couch, though it still only sported a single cushion, and Gamzee slide down the wall and sat beside the stairs. Dave, who was debating on telling Sollux to move his legs so he could sit down, was distracted by a notification from his pesterchum.

- Future turntechGodhead [FTG] started pestering Current turntechGodhead [CTG]

FTG: chill bro

FTG: its cool we got this

PTG: little late

PTG: shits done

FTG: cant be late dude

PTG: id have thought that

PTG: but look

PTG: look at this bullshit

PTG: knight of time being fucking late

FTG: im not late dude

FTG: trust me

PTG: trust me?

PTG: dude youre me

PTG: whats not to trust?

FTG: exactly

PTG but really

PTG: youre a little late

PTG: shits done

FTG: no its not

FTG: i was there man shits not done

FTG: but dont freak

FTG: we got this

PTG: sure

PTG: whatever dude

- Current turntechGodhead [CTG] ceased pestering Future turntechGodhead [FTG]


	6. By Your Side

He was tired, so very tired and yet he couldn't seem to keep himself asleep. Everytime he started to drift off his thinkpan would prickle and wake him again. Groaning in defeat Karkat pulled himself from the recuperacoon he didn't remember climbing into. His vision was slightly blurry and his head spun with a dull pain. Looking around his room he could see John's things scattered here and there, a few of those objects resting along his recuperacoon. He ran his fingers over a few of them before he was distracted by a thobbing in his head.

Muttering Alternian curses under his breath he wobbled his way to his door and entered the hall. With a hand trailing the wall to keep himself steady Karkat slowly moved towards the bathroom, hoping to find one of the weird of medicines John had left behind.

The thought hit him with a bite, but he pushed it off as best he could. With how much his head hurt right now he didn't need that thought to make it any worse. Stumbling into the bathroom Karkat didn't even bother turning the light on. He reached into the cabinet that sat above the sink and felt around for the small familier battle of paincullers or whatever. When he didn't find them he looked up with a growl of frustration.

Seeing the bottle was, in fact, gone Karkat balled his hand into a fist and forced himself to take a breath. If there weren't any here then he'd just go down and get some out of the small cupboard John had dubbed the 'medicine cabinet'. He started to turn around when he caught sight of himself in the mirror. It was was for only a second, but it was enough to make the troll turn back and move the mirror back to its normal position. Now he could see what he had become since John had gone. The bags under his eyes had grown considerably and he had visibly lost some weight. His hair was messier then normal, though with the slime matting it down it was hard to tell at first glance. His appearance basically radiated exhaustion as his shouders slouched and he leaned forward against the sink.

'_Such a good look for you._'

Karkat's eyes widened at the sudden voice, glancing around for the source. The action seemed to be amusing as there was now seemingly disembodied cackling. The Cancer paniced for a moment thinking that he had maybe completely lost his mind.

'_Not yet you haven't_'

The voiced echoed, the melicious laughter still embedded in the words. Words that seemed somewhat familiar. Karkat found it slightly hard to breath when his thinkpan finally snapped to attention, infoming him of what he was hearing.

'_That's right, Karkat. And believe me, you haven't seen aaaaaaaanything yet._' The voice let out another chilling laugh.

Karkat didn't even have that chance to utter a syllable of shock before he felt his mind fuzz over entirely.

Away in the dark of a solitary room a certain coniving troll chuckled to herself as she stared through the eyes of another. She could hear his voice screaming out from the back of his own thinkpan, where she had placed him for the time being. For now she just made him stared ahead into the mirror, his eyes looking slightly hollowed now that he was no longer looking through them as himself. When she made him start to lift a hand he yelled louder, trying to force his arm back down with shear will. But that wasn't enough, not against her will. Simply not against her. She had the stronger will here, she had all the will. All of it. Even his.

Hearing with his ears she picked up on the sound of footsteps and let the Cancers arm drop back down again. She really had the best luck with her plans, she just loved when they all came together so easily.

Dave walked as quietly as he could up the stairs and towards Karkat's room once more. The messages from his future self had ironically tap danced through his head until he felt more then a little compelled to check on the troll. There was no harm in that, right? If he was wrong then nothing would happen, and if he was right...Well, it's not like he wouldn't be able to take on the Cancer in a fight.

Stopping short of the door Dave noticed with some well hidden apprehension that it was open. Stealthily creeping up the blond looked in and saw the recuperacoon empty, a trail of slime leading right out the door. It had only been an hour and a half since the guy was put down, how much better could he have gotten in that amount of time? He wasn't sure, but he could readily assume 'not much' to be the proper answer there.

Following the trail of green liquid with his eyes Dave hesitated before moving on. He had seen the fury of the crazed troll before and was a little worried about having to fight him in that state. He didn't want to have to kill him, though Terezi and Sollux had made it clear that if things progressed the way they were there may not be another choice. Even so, Dave did not want to have to take on the job of killing his best bros boyfriend. However, he couldn't just let Karkat run loose in his psycotic frenzy either. With that thought in mind the Knight of time made his way down the hall.

It was hard to see basically anything as there were still no lights on and night had fallen some time ago. It was only by the power of his Strider Vision that Dave was able to make out the dark silhouette of a certain troll standing in the dark just staring at into the bathroom mirror. He wasn't moving or growling, which he took to be some from of good news. And in doing so he decided to test the waters a bit more.

"Hey, Vantas." Dave said a bit softly, just in case.

When the other failed to respond Dave's anxiety rose a little. And by a little I mean he had a red flag flapping frantically in his head.

"Vantas." Dave tried again, stepping closer to try and get a better look at him.

This time the Cancer started to turn around. Dave regretted closing the gap between them as much as he had because as soon as Karkat had faced him he lunged. In an instant the blond was slammed against the door frame, claws digging into his arms. Sliding down the wall a bit he shifted his weight and managed to break one of his arms free. He tried to move back into the hall to create some distnace between them, but the troll was not allowing for that and a moment later the blond was pinned to the floor.

Vriska cackled like crazy as she had Karkat pin the coolkid down. The boy didn't scream or cry out for help, but that's not what interested her. What had her so completely entertained was Karkat's voice echoing from the back of his own head. His voice ringing out into her own. He was screaming for her to stop. Pleading with her so desprately not to make him do this. It was pathetic, but also empowering. He had screamed and ranted an raved at her before, but never pleaded. Never begged.

Everytime she pulled one of his arms back and thrust it at the boys face or shoulders, arms or torso Karkat would try and scream louder.

"Geeze, Karkat. What's big deal?" She spoke aloud, a dark smile plastered on her face, "It's not even like you like him anyway."

More pleading, more begging. She loved this. Though she wasn't sure what she enjoyed most. Hearing Karkat's voice crack with despiration, or the look of fear that was starting to show on the blond's face as she dragged the Cancer's claws over his skin. Red blood ran down his arms and across his chest. His sword tossed uselessly up the hall as they thrashed and rolled on the floor.

'_He's John Moirail. I can't do this to him too, I can't hurt him like that. please-_' Karkat's voice rang out again.

"He's already gone Karkat. There's no point in holding back now." The Scorpio chuckled.

Dave tried to shove Karkat off of him but the troll was firmly straddling his hips and swiping at any part of the blond he could reach. He had tried to fend him off with his sword before, but with the tight fit they were currently in it didn't take more then a moment for it to be knocked out of his hand. He had tried calling Karkat's name and had even mentioned John in hopes of distracing him. When nothing worked at getting through to him he had been prepared to call for help from the trolls down stairs. And he had almost done that, except he noticed something. Two things actually.

One, Karkat wasn't growling like he had been earilier. And two, his eyes were not the angry slits that he had seen earlier either. The pupils were wide and blank, as if Karkat were looking right through him. Not the eyes of a crazed troll at the very least.

Cursing under his breath Dave struggled to hold Karkat's arms back. Thus far the cuts had all been relatively shallow, but he could feel them starting to bite deeper. In one last ditch effort to toss the troll off him Dave thrust his hand up and cuffed him right in the nose. Karkat's head snapped back and the blond was able to dislodge him. The troll fell with a heavy thud to the floor, but instead of seeing to his now bleeding nose he just shifted enough to attack again.

Twisting onto his side Dave kicked Karkat away from him, scooting backwards as well. The troll grunted as he hit the wall and let out a raspy growl as he picked himself back up. Glaring at the blond the Cancer dove at him again. He was haulted before his attack landed though, held back by a glowing field of blue and red. Sollux, along with the other two trolls, had come running once they heard the scuffle from below.

"Kk, calm down." Sollux said, his voice showing he was still wiped out from earlier.

Karkat, however, did not calm down. He thrashed as best he could, rasping out growls as he flashed his fangs.

"K-karkat?"

Immediately Karkat ceased moving and every head turned to see a rather disheveled looking John stading at the end of the hall. He was panting slightly, his hair messier then normal and wearing wrinkled clothes that had obviously been on him for more then a day. His eyes were fixed on the Cancer and showed clearly all the fear and concern he was feeling. Without a moments hesitation John crossed the hall and clung onto Karkat, squeezing him tightly. The troll tensed up at the contact.

With a small motion from Terezi Sollux released his hold on his moirail. Everyone held their breath and waited. Karkat's expression shifted quickly before settling on a somewhat odd, bland look. Raising an arm up he hesitates for a moment before bringing it down sharply, claws extended. Dave reacted first, pulling John back and out of harms way. Karkat's attack fell through empty air before being once more tied up in Sollux's psionic field.

"S-stop, Karkat!" John shouted trying to scramble back over to the troll.

"John-" Dave hissed as the boy struggled against his injured arms, "John, hold up."

"Let go, he _needs_ me." John begged, fighting against Dave's grip.

"Terezi, what do we do?" Sollux asked, not even bothering to hide the panic he felt at this point.

"Something's not right." The blind troll replied.

"No shit." Dave huffed pulling John back as best he could.

"Something more then what's obvious." She stated, a deep frown sitting heavy on her lips, "No matter how far gone, a crashing troll would never attack their matesprite. If anything John's presence here should have fixed things. That's why finding him was so important."

"Dave, let me _go!_" John pleaded, though he was the stronger of the two of them Dave had him in tight lock, "_I need to help him!_"

"He almost took your head off dude. Not gunna happen." Dave replied adjusting his grip.

"What do all up and motherfuckin' do now then?" Gamzee asked from beside Sollux, "If he ain't calmin' down..."

"I don't know." Terezi said after a moment, "I don't think there's anything we _can_ do."

A look passed between the trolls then, one that was less then happy. Dave noticed it and his chest tightened as he understood what they were thinking. Terezi had already mentioned before what happened to trolls who become too dangerous or unstable from Crashing like this. It wasn't until right now though that he even really thought that would be the outcome. He didn't know what he expected to happen, but to have Karkat...That was just not something that he had even realistically considered.

John, meanwhile, had been fighting his way out of Dave's arm lock the whole time and with the blonds attention drawn in on his own thoughts he had his chance. Pushing backwards on the other John wriggled his legs forward and slid out of the other's grasp. Ignoring Dave's warnings and protests John threw his arms around the Cancer, who was still struggling in Sollux's psionic hold. A hold that was becoming weaker as the already tired Gemini lost whatever he had left for strength.

"John." Sollux warned in a strained voice, "I can't-"

Karkat was gaining more mobility with the other's psychic power fading, though he was now held down by the blue eyed boy who was latched onto him. Sollux had just enough energy in him to keep all of the Cancer's attacks from actually hitting the Heir. Raising his hand again Karkat prepared to strike out at the boy again. Before he cold do that, however, the violent troll let out a scream that echoed though the small hallway. Once he stopped screaming he stopped thrashing about as well and merely stood breathing heavily, his eyes pinched closed.

Sollux's power finally gave out all together and he slid down the wall as it did. Karkat, no longer supported by the energy field, likewise slumped back against a wall. John, eyes firmly close and arms in a deadlock around the Cancer's torso, did not loosen his hold. No one dared move.

Karkat's breath was ragid from the exertions from just moments before. His fingers twitched and Dave, along with anyone else who noticed, tensed up. The clawed digits wound themselves in the Heir's shirt, pulling at it pathetically. After another moment, however, the trolls arms slowly crept up around the other. He was shaking now and John brought an arm away only enough to run it through the other's hair. As the boy shooshed and pet the Cancer the troll slumped foward until his head was burrowing into his chest.

During this time Terezi had quietly mobilized the others enough to leave the two alone. Even Dave was being made to follow. Tossing one more look of concern to his best bro the blond reluctantly trailed after the others and vanished down the stairs.

Karkat was trembling all over and on occation a whimper would crawl from him lips. John sat and rocked the troll gently, running his hands through his hair and shooshing quietly; giving a pap here and there when needed. It pained John to hear Karkat make those sounds, to sound so scared and hurt. He could feel the troll's arms around him tighten as he nuzzled as far as he could into his chest.

"_Karkat_." John whispered as soothingly as he could, though his own voice was shakey with the tears he was holding back, "What were you thinking, Karkat? Why would you do something so stupid?"

Karkat didn't reply, but did try and tuck in closer to him.

"You knew. I know you knew. That this would happen and-_God, why would you do that?_" John's voice started to crack as he spoke; he could feel a dampness growing on his shirt and knew that Karkat was crying, "I've missed you so much, Karkat. Why didn't you just call me back? I would have come back-"

By now John was also crying. His tears streaked down his face and dripped into the troll's hair. Karkat had started making whining noises now too, trying to feebly to comfort John. Pulling away John lifted Karkat's head up so that they were looking at each other. Red tinted liquid leaked out of the troll's glossy eyes, his face twisted with a sort of pained relief.

"Karkat." John started, swollowing back his own tears, "Don't ever do something like that again. No matter what. Whatever happens I just- I don't care. All I want is to be by your side, Karkat. That's all I need. Just you."

Downstairs Dave was having his injuries seen too by Gamzee of all the trolls. Sollux was slumped pathetically over the couch looking like he was on the verge of passing out all together. Terezi was off on trolian again, which left only one troll to help him. He had tried looking after the injuries himself, but had some trouble seeing as everytime he moved his arms up he was opening more of the cuts even more, causeing a good deal of pain. Gamzee was wrapping the bloodied limbs as the blond had down for him before; making sure to pull them extra tight as Strider had before as well. He winced a few times, though the glasses made it impossible to tell on the outside. Despite that though, Dave couldn't help but glance towards the stairs every few minutes.

"You really thinks it's safe to just leave them like that?" He asked, finally voiceing his concern.

"Thm fnhm" Sollux replied, his face in a pillow.

"Care to repeat that? Without the sofa between your teeth this time?" Dave said with a bit of a bite.

Sollux moved his head just enough so that his mouth was free.

"I thaid 'it'th fine'. Kk wont hurt him."

"Only he did. He tried like hell to." Dave reminded.

"Keep you pants on Strider." Terezi spoke up now, "Everything should be back in it's place now."

"What do you mean?" The blond asked turning to face her as she stood in the kitchen doorway.

"I mean, all interference is taken care of. Remember earlier when I said something was off? Well I was right, naturally." She started to explain, "That attack ealier wasn't Karkles at all. It was Vriska."

"Vrithka?" Sollux asked sitting up a bit now.

Terezi nodded.

"It would seem so." She confirmed verbally, "Kanaya and Rose had a sneaking suspicion she would try something big and went to investagate on their own as we handled things on this side. Quite the nose for detective work if I do say so myself."

"Alright, so what do we do now?" Dave asked.  
>"Nothing." Terezi replied bluntly.<p>

"What the fuck do you mean 'nothing'? Do you see the shit she's pulled here?" Dave asked, this time bits of anger detectable in his voice.

"I have been informed that she has been, for lack of better terms, 'Neutralized'." The blind troll reported.

"What does that mean?" The blond questioned, once more regaining the even tone of his voice.

At this Terezi cackled her familer menecing cackle.

"I don't know the details, Dave." Was all she would say on the matter.


	7. Time to Heal

A few weeks had passed since Karkat's final episode and John's return. The first week was the hardest to get through as Karkat rarely ever let the boy leave his sight. Following him whenever he left a room and such, panicing whenever he woke and John wasn't beside him. He would have nightmares but didn't dare sleep in the slime, he couldn't sleep unless he was beside John and in his arms. And John, he would stay up for hours just stroking the troll's head and hearing his steady purring. He had missed that sound so much.

Sollux had stayed for the first week along with Terezi, just to make sure things were safe. They stayed out of sight for the most part so as not to trigger Karkat's defensive instincts, though their lingering scents didn't go unnoticed. Whenever he got a wiff of them he would growl and bristle, though he tried not to. He knew who they were and that it was safe, but something inside him still saw them as threats. Dave had wanted to stay for John sake, but Terezi had made it clear that with Karkat's already dislike of him that he was more likely to be seen as a threat over anyone else.

The next two weeks slowly got better. The two other trolls had taken their leave once everything seemed to be working out, which was a great strain off of Karkat's mind. Now that their presence was no longer lingering in his hive he was more inclined to allow John a bit more freedom in his movements. He no longer followed him into every room, though he did whine when he left a bit. And if he didn't see the boy after a certain amount of time he _had_ to find him. Whenever the Heir sat down Karkat was beside him, or more often then not, wrapped around him and/or nuzzling into him. He would purr loudly and chirp when John ran his fingers through his hair, brushing past the base of his horns. At night things would escalate into intense makeouts before dwindling into simple caressing and tangling embraces.

John was taking all this in stride. Taking care of Karkat and allowing him to do whatever he needed to in order to feel safe again. He had been disturbed at the state of the room the first few days. He could only break away to clean it when the troll was asleep, along with the other parts of the hive. Terezi and Sollux had helped in cleaning up the blood and slime which helped. Another thing that helped was Tavros and Gamzee dropping by with anything they needed since John wasn't able to leave the hive without Karkat freaking out.

It made him feel guilty for letting his matesprite become so insecure and vulnerable, but he had no idea something like this could happen. If Tavros hadn't shown up at his house that day...It wasn't something John liked to think about. The only thing John could turn into a positive was that Karkat was so very cuddly. Like a giant kitten. He would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying all the attention, though he did wish it was from the troll's own accord and not his anxiety. He was calming down though and hopefully the Cancer would be himself again soon.

Meanwhile, the weeks outside Vantas's hive were just as active. Whatever had gone down with Vriska was still a mystery as both Kanaya and Rose were keeping thier lips sealed. She had not shown up on Trollian since the incident and even a 'visit' from Sollux turned up nothing on the Scorpio. As in, she was literally no where to be found. No one was complaining about her absence, but it did leave one to wonder about possible retaliation which she was known for.

- turntechGodhead [TG] bagan pestering **gallowsCalibrator**** [GC]**

TG: yo terezi

**GC: W3LL, 1F 1T 1SN'T MR. COOLK1D STR1D3R.**

**GC: :)**

TG: the one and only

TG: so has there been any sign of the bitch yet

**GC: NOT TH4T 1 KNOW OF.**

**GC: K4N4Y4 H4SN'T G1V3N 4NY H1NTS 4BOUT H3R 31THER SO 1 C4NT 3V3N B3G1N TO GU3SS WH3R3 SH3 M1GHT B3.**

**GC: 1N F4CT 1T 1S SOM3WH3T 4NNOY1NG TH4T 1 HAVN'T B33N ABL3 TO F1GUR3 1T OUT**

**GC: :(**

TG: i bet

TG: figuring this shit out is kind of your thing

TG: so you got nothing then

**GC: 1 D1DN'T S4Y TH4T D4V3**

**GC: DO YOU R3ALLY H4VE SO L1TTL3 F41TH 1N MY SNOOP1NG AB1L1T13S?**

TG: yea youre a god at snooping

TG: what was i thinking not believeing you had the rest of the world at your finger tips

TG: not counting the missing anti-christ the universe is spread before you like the legs of an old pro turning a trick when you got a twenty tucked in you belt

TG: no resistance there being turned and molded in whichever way pleases you most at any given time

**GC: D4V3, WH4T 4R3 YOU T4LKING 4BOUT?**

TG: nothing never mind

TG: so what scoop were you able to dig up then

**GC: W3LL, FOR ST4RT3RS WHY VR1SK4 H4D GON3 4FT3R TH3M 1N TH3 F1RST PL4C3.**

TG: thought it was because vantas got john and she didnt

**GC: Y3S, BUT JOHN W4S H3R T4RG3T H3R3, NOT K4RKLES.**

TG: seriously

TG: i thought she had a fem-troll boner for him

TG: unless this was some quadrant shit with the black-love or whatever

**GC: 1T'S C4LL3D BL4CK-ROM, AND NO 1T W4SN'T.**

**GC: TH1S W4S R3V3NG3 PUR3 4ND S1MPL3.**

**GC: SH3 H4D T4RG3T3D JOHN BUT H4D TO G3T R1D OF K4RKL3S 1N ORD3R TO G3T TO H1M.**

TG: how do you even know this

**GC: SH3 TOLD M3**

TG: she told you

TG: when exactly did she do that

**GC: WH3N 1 W4S ON MY W4Y TO H1S H1V3 TH4T D4Y.**

**GC: SH3 D1DN'T COM3 R1GHT OUT 4ND S4Y 1T, BUT SH3 COULDN'T H4V3 B33N MOR3 OBV1OUS3 1F SH3 TR13D.**

**GC: JOHN P1CK1NG K4RKL3S W4S L1K3 S4Y1NG SH3 W4SN'T GOOD 3NOUGH FOR H1M.**

TG: which would be an ass biting understatment at this point

**GC: HUSH D4V3, 1M ST1LL T4LK1NG**

TG: the floor is yours

**GC: TH4NK YOU**

**GC: 4NYW4Y, 3V3N 1F HURT1NG JOHN W4S H3R M41N OBJ3CT1V3 SH3 W4SN'T GO1NG TO L1M1T H3RS3LF TH3R3.**

**CG: SH3 ST1LL H4D 4 GRUDG3 4G41NST K4RKL3S TOO.**

TG: which is where all the chat tag bulshit comes in.

**GC: 1ND33D 1T 1S.**

**GC: EQU1US WOULD H4V3 B33N F41RLY 34SY TO R3CRU1T CONS1D3R1NG TH3 GRUB QU33N AND 4LL.**

TG: grub queen

TG: this some more troll bullshit

**GC: Y3S D4V3, TH1S 1S WH4T YOU WOULD C4LL TROLL BULLSH1T.**

**GC: TH3 GRUB QU33N 1S HOW W3 R3PRODUC3 4ND B31NG W1TH K4RKL3S WOULD PUT JOHN 1N 4 R4TH3R ODD PL4C3 B3CU4S3 OF TH4T.**

TG: what you mean like egderp siring a bunch of half troll babies or something

**GC: NOT 3X4CTLY, BUT CLOS3 3NOUGH.**

**GC: TH1S 1S HOW VR1SK4 GOT H1M 1NVOLV3D THOUGH.**

**GC: 4S FOR 3R1D3N, H3 W4S N3V3R R34LLY 4 P4RT OF TH1S TO B3G1N W1TH.**

TG: what are you talking about

TG: karkat said he was all over him too

**GC: OH TH3R3 W3R3 CH4TS TH4T TOOK PL4C3.**

**GC: ONLY NON3 OF TH3M W3R3 4MPOR4.**

TG: more mind shit

**GC: 4S 1F TH4TS 3V3N 4 SUPR1S3 4T TH1S PO1NT.**

**GC: SH3 US3D H1M TO UP H3R NUMB3RS 4G41NST K4RKL3S 4S W3LL 4S 4NNOY H1M.**

**GC: H4V1NG NO R34SON TO CORR3CT 4NYTH1NG 3R1D3N D1DN'T S4Y 4NYTH1NG 4BOUT 1T.**

TG: so how did you get him to admit that now

**GC: NOW NOW, D4V3. 1 C4N'T GO T3LL1NG MY 1NT3RROG4T1ON T3CHN1QU3S**

**CG: :)**

TG: whatever

**GC: DON'T 'WH4T3V3R' ME D4V3.**

**GC: YOU KNOW YOU'R3 JUST DY1NG TO KNOW WH4T TH3Y 4R3.**

TG: you got me

TG: im suffocating here

TG: choking on the cruel air that would allow me to keep living in a world where i didnt know how you gathered such refined and irrefutable information

TG: look im even busting out the big words here

**GC: 1'M HONOR3D TO R34D TH3M. 1 KNOW YOU DON'T US3 TH3M OFT3N.**

**GC: :)**

TG: thats because no one is worth the time it takes to write them out

**GC: TH3 KN1GHT OF T1M3 DO3SN'T H4V3 T1M3?**

TG: not for that shit

**GC: 1N TH4T C4S3 1 SH4LL CH3R1SH 3V3RY LONG WORD YOU TYP3 OUTFOR M3.**

**GC: 1'LL 3V3N S4V3 TH3M TO 4 SP3C14L FOLD3R.**

TG: why stop there

TG: put that shit on a doc and print it out

TG: paste up copies of it all over the place

TG: make some big ass posters of it

**GC: TH3N 1 C4N 3NJOY TH3 D3L1OUS C4NDY R3D T3XT NO M4TT3R WH3R3 1 4M.**

TG: exactly

**GC: :)**

**GC: D4V3.**

TG: terezi

**GC: D4V3.**

TG: terezi

**GC: 1 FORGOT TO 4SK 4BOUT J4D3.**

TG: its all cool

TG: she flipped out when she got the message because she basically missed everything

TG: she was pretty pissed because i forgot to message her back that things were taken care of

**GC: WH4T DO M34N?**

TG: she didn't get the messages until a few hours after everything calmed down

TG: she was messaging me like crazy because she couldn't find john at his place

TG: when i told her everything was fine now and had been for a while she flipped out at me for making her worry like that

TG: fucking popped into my house and pummled my arm like i was a fucking punching bag

**GC: OH?**

**GC: AND HOW DID THAT END FOR YOU?**

**GC: :)**

TG: no horizontal tangoing here

TG: just a chat a bit more punching on her part and some decent re-wrapping of the dicework vantas did on my arms

**GC: 1T W4SN'T K4RKL3S.**

**GC: TH4T W4S VR12K4.**

TG: whatever

TG: fuck it

**GC: D4V3?**

**GC: 4R3 YOU ST1LL TH3R3?**

**GC: D4V3?**

**GC: :(**

TG: terezi

TG: ive been meaning to ask you something

**GC: WH4T?**

TG: if egbert hadn't gotten him to calm down

TG: would you have really killed him?

**GC:...**

**GC: JOHN W4SN'T TH3 ON3 WHO H4D C4LM3D H1M DOWN DUR1NG TH4T P4RT1CUL4R 3P1SOD3.**

**GC: 1T W4S JUST BY LUCK TH4T K4N4Y4 AND ROS3 R34CH3D VR1SKA 4T TH4T MOM3NT 4ND BROK3 H3R CONTROL ON H1M.**

TG: dont change the subject

**GC: 1'M NOT.**

**GC: BUT Y3S, 1 WOULD H4V3.**

**GC: 1'M NOT PROUD TO S4Y 1T, BUT W3 WOULD H4V3 H4D NO OTH3R CHO1C3.**

TG: but he was still your friend

**GC: THAT DO3SN'T M4TT3R.**

**GC: 1T WOULD H4V3 B33N FOR TH3 B3ST.**

**GC: DO YOU R3M3MB3R B4CK 1N TH3 G4M3 B3FOR3 3V3RYON3 W4S R3V1V3D?**

**GC: WH3N W3 F1RST M3T?**

**GC: G4MZ33 H4D K1LL3D TH3M 4LL 1N H1S OWN PSYCHOT1C 3P1SOD3.**

TG: what about that

**GC: TH4T 1S WH4T COULD AND MOST L1KELY WOULD H4V3 H4PP3N3D 1F TH1NGS H4D TUR3D FOR TH3 WORST W1TH NO ON3 TO CULL H1M.**

**GC: 4S CRU3L 4S YOU HUM4NS F1ND 1T, CULL1NG H1M WOULD H4V3 B33N B3TT3R FOR 3V3RYON3 1NVOLV3D.**

**GC: 3V3N FOR K4RKL3S.**

TG: what troll dont have tough love theropy or anything

**GC: TH3ROPY?**

TG: yea like

TG: extended shoosh paps in mupltiple sessions that you end up paying shit tons of cash for

TG: where some stranger sits on a couch and listens to you bitch and moan about your problems and then proceeds to tell you everything stems from one bullshit moment in your life

**GC: D4V3, TH1S SOUNDS 4N 4WFUL LOT L1K3 MO1R41L1G3NC3.**

TG: you pay for that

**GC: NO**

**GC: 4S 4 MO1R41L YOU 4R3 OBL1G4T3D TO M4K3 SUR3 TH3 OTH3R 1S MOR3 OR L3SS ST4BL3.**

**GC: TH4T M34NS L1ST3N1NG 4ND T4LK1NG TO TH3M 4BOUT 4NYTH1NG TH4T M4Y OR M4Y NOT B3 BOTH3R1NG TH3M.**

TG: wait

TG: then what the hell happened with vantass

TG: or does he not have one or what

**GC: K4RKL3S MO1R41LS TO G4MZ33 AND SOLLUX MO1R41LS TO K4RKL3S.**

**GC: ONLY TH3Y T3ND TO FL1P ROLLS 3V3RY SO OFT3N.**

TG: so captor dropped the ball on this one

**GC: H3 B3L13V3S 4S MUCH, BUT SOLLUX'S PR3S3NC3 WOULD H4V3 DON3 L1TTL3 MOR3 TH3N SLOW TH3 PROGR3SS OF HIS D3T3R1OR4T1ON.**

**GC: B3S1DES, YOU SHOULDN'T T4LK 4BOUT N3GL3CT OF MO1R41L1GENT DUT13S.**

**GC: WH4T W1TH TH3 D1S4P3R1NG 4CT JOHN PULL3D UND3R YOUR W4TCH.**

TG: hey he said he was ready to go and left

TG: its not like i could have tied him to the bed or anything

**GC: BUT 1T W4S YOUR JOB TO K33P 4N 3Y3 ON H1M.**

TG: there was only one of me for egderp watch

TG: vantas had two

**GC: G4MZ33 C4M3 BY WH3N H3 COULD TO T4LK TO H1M, WH1CH 1S HOW W3 FOUND OUT 4BOUT 1T, R3M3MB3R?**

TG: that accounts for one of them

**GC: DO YOU KNOW F4R 4W4Y SOLLUX AND 1 L1V3 1N COMP4R1SON TO K4RKL3S?**

**GC: TROLL14N W4S TH3 MOST W3 COULD DO TO ST4Y 1N CONT4CT 4ND H3 STOPP3D R3SPOND1NG TO US ONC3 VR1SK4 GOT GO1NG.**

**GC: TH3R3 R43LLY W4S NO W4Y 4ROUND TH1S.**

TG: she really thought of everything then

**GC: JUST 4BOUT.**

TG: terezi

TG: yo terezi

TG: dont leave me hanging man

**GC: 1'M GO1NG TO H4V3 TO CUT TH1S SHORT D4V3.**

TG: what why

**GC: :)**

- **gallowsCalibrator**** [GC]** ceased trollingturntechGodhead [TG]

TG: terezi

TG: what the hell

- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering **gallowsCalibrator**** [GC]**


End file.
